Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch
by mandymallason
Summary: Harry returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his sixth year. He must come to terms with new friends, Sirius' death, his mother's past, and the green flame torch, which will prepare him for the inevitable battle with Voldemort.
1. Secrets, Salutations, and Sirius

Far away from #4 Privet Drive at the castle of Hogwarts, a redheaded girl ran down the stairs of the entrance hall. She seemed to be in a great hurry. She kept looking sideways as though she expected to be followed. The girl appeared to be around the age of eleven or twelve, and she clutched her wand in her left hand so tight her knuckles were white. She continued down the steps outside, past the winged boars, and down the trail that led to Hagrid's cabin. Her black Hogwarts robes billowed behind her, and a Gryffindor lion was emblazed on her chest. She was ravishingly pretty, even in her young age, but at the moment her pretty face was furrowed with a look of deep concern and fright. She reached Hagrid's cabin, which was dark, and kept on going past it right into the forbidden forest. She followed a trail lined with shrubs taller than any normal sized man. It led deep into the forest to where the trees would block any evading sunlight during the day. Since it was the dead of night, this area of the wood was just blacker and more menacing. She walked for another quarter of an hour, and then abruptly dropped down to her knees and crawled through a large shrub to the right of the trail that was identical to all the other shrubs. She stood up on the other side of the bush and brushed off her robes. She looked behind her shoulder again and slowly walked forward. Sticking up from the dirt was a very ancient-looking torch. It had been there so long that spiders had set up glistening webs in the intricate designs on the metal circle surrounding the wick. The designs looked like they had been carved by the darkest of wizards. They included a snake with its forked tongue flicking out between it's fangs and a skull that closely resembled the dark mark. The torch stood the same height as the girl, and it seemed to omit unearthly dark magic as she neared it.

She held her wand over the wick and with one last look over her shoulder shouted with all the might in her little body, "_Viresco Incendium!_"

A soft, eerie green light erupted from the tip of her wand and slowly drifted to the wick. The torch exploded with sparks, and the green light turned into a green flame that flickered and glowed in the dark night. The girl stepped back with a smile on her beautiful face and stared at the flame. Her mouth moved as if she was speaking to it. She would pause and then continue as if she were waiting for a reply. All of a sudden, the girl whipped around and the shrub from which she crawled through rustled. Another young girl, around the age of fifteen or sixteen, stood up from under the bush and, with a look of severe irritation, straightened her robes. A snake was emblazed on her Hogwarts robes wrapped around a large P for prefect.

"_Lumos!_" she said.

Her wand sparked, and her features were lit up. She had dark, glossy hair and heavy-lidded eyes, which held a certain type of smugness.

"Well, well, well," she exclaimed, her sultry voice full of triumph. "Seems I've caught Dumbledore's favorite girl messing with things that ought not to be messed with."

"No, Bellatrix," the younger girl said in a slightly panicked, yet steady voice. "You've got it wrong. I've found out how to control it. Whoever it is that Dumbledore feels is rising can't use it anymore. Dumbl-."

"Shut-up!" Bellatrix interrupted, her heavy-lidded eyes flaring with rage. "You are a first year, and I am a fifth-year and a school prefect. No one will ever believe you, and you can't prove it because no one is supposed to know where it is. We don't want to get Dumbledore in trouble now do we?"

"Would you just blatantly lie like that? You know Dumbledore just wants to know how to use the torch so the dark power he feels rising can't find it and use it to destroy people."

"Yes. I would lie like that," Bellatrix said simply. "Do you want to know why? You have to keep it quiet though." She lowered her voice and put a finger to her lips. "It's a secret." She walked over and stood very close to the girl. She leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I would lie just like that because the Dark Lord is coming, and no one will stop him. Not Dumbledore, not McGonagall, and certainly not you, you foolish girl. He will rule this earth with pure wickedness and when that day comes, you will die in pain!"

She lifted her head back and laughed.

The younger girl backed away, raised her wand, and shouted, "_Impedimenta!_"

Bellatrix went flying and crashed onto the hard forest floor. She stood quickly with a look of fury on her face.

"You should thank the Dark Lord I don't kill you right now, Mudblood, but I will make sure you are punished right away when we get to the castle." She looked down at her arm that she had landed on and there was a large scrape that was bleeding freely. "This will certainly help my case when I tell the headmaster and the other teachers how you found out how to light the green flame torch for your own personal mischief and then attacked me when I tried to stop you."

"That's not it," the redheaded girl pleaded, near tears, but she kept her wand raised. "You are an evil girl Bel-."

"Now, now, calm yourself, Ev-."

Harry Potter awoke with a start.

Harry sat straight up and threw the covers on his bed so hard they flew off the edge. He reached for his glasses o his bedside table and swung his legs off the bed to put his feet on the floor. He ran his fingers through his untidy, and right now, sweaty jet black hair. He didn't know why he had awoken so suddenly, but he could vaguely remember a dream of a young girl and a soft green light. He squinted his brilliant green eyes and concentrated. He had had disturbing dreams before, but they were always about Lord Voldemort and made his famous lightening-bolt shaped scar on his forehead tingle. His scar was unusually dormant. He heard a soft whooshing sound and saw his snowy white owl, Hedwig, land on his open window sill. There was a warm summer breeze blowing through the window as Harry stood up, his pajamas a little short because he had grown many inches over his summer break. He looked down and reminded himself to buy some new night clothes at Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley was a busy market for wizards to buy all their magical needs. Harry Potter was a wizard and a very powerful and famous one at that. Harry walked to the window and petted Hedwig affectionately. She hooted and stuck her leg out which held a package and a letter. He untied both from her leg and gave her an owl treat. He sat down on his bed and opened the letter first. He recognized the minute handwriting as Hermione Granger's, one of his best friends at school.

_Dear Harry,_

_Happy Birthday! When you sent Hedwig with your letter, I thought I would send her back with your present to save her a trip. How are you? You must be so bored. I have been in touch with Ron. He says everyone is just fine, and they will be coming to get you soon. You asked me where I went on my vacation in your last letter, so I'll tell you. My parents and I loved the south of France when we went there a few years back, so we decided to go again. Needless to say, I've managed a decent tan. I'm coming home soon to do my school shopping, though. I'm sure I will meet up with you guys in Diagon Alley. I hope your birthday was great. I can't wait to see you._

_Love,_

_Hermione Granger_

Harry smiled at her letter and glanced at his alarm clock, which read one in the morning. He had been sixteen for a whole hour, yet this past summer made him feel like he was celebrating his one hundredth birthday. This wasn't his first present this year. Hagrid had sent a large box of Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans just yesterday. He tore open Hermione's gift. She had given him a book (of course). It was titled _Advanced Quidditch: Moves to Amaze and Stun Your Peers on the Pitch_. Her gift was perfect. He would come back to Hogwarts with all new moves. No one had seen him play since the beginning of last year because Professor Umbridge decided to give Harry and the Weasley twins a lifelong ban on Quidditch. Quidditch is a magical sport played on broomsticks with three different balls: the Quaffle, the Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch. There are seven players: three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper, and a Seeker. Harry was the youngest Seeker in a century, and he played on the Gryffindor House team. His job was to the catch the tiny and quick Golden Snitch.

"_That ban lasted long_," Harry thought to himself and chuckled.

He knew Dumbledore wouldn't take him away from that this year. All of a sudden, a little brown furrball shot through Harry's open window. It fluttered around the room and rolled onto the bed right next to Harry. He recognized this tiny amber owl as Pigwidgeon, Ron Weasley's very spastic owl. A large box was attached to Pig's leg with a letter on top. Harry could only guess this was his birthday present. He grabbed the letter and began to read.

_Dear Harry,_

_Happy Birthday! I hope you are doing well. We are all doing wonderfully at the Burrow. Percy has crawled back and apologized to everyone. He even told me he was going to apologize to you too, mate. I told him he ruddy well should. Anyway, on a lighter note, Dumbledore informed my dad that Hagrid was successful in getting some of what he sought last summer, and Dumbledore found a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that's nothing like the last one. I'll tell you more on the Big Guy's news when you get here. We will be picking you up tomorrow around 4:00 p.m. My dad says if we do it in the middle of the day, "nobody" will be caught off guard. Send Pig back with your answer. Again Happy Birthday, mate!_

_Sincerely,_

_Ron Weasley_

_Ps: I just raided Fred and George's store for your present. Hope you like it!_

Harry laid the letter down and quickly opened the box. It was filled with sweets and pranks ranging from Skiving Snackboxes to Ton-Tongue Toffees. There were some other items Harry didn't recognize, and he was quite hesitant to try them. He set his presents on top of his Hogwarts trunk and took out a quill, parchment, and ink. He hastily wrote that he would be glad to have them pick him up at four the following day, and thanks for the present. He grabbed Pig, who had been fluttering wildly around his room, tied the letter to his leg, and sent him on his way. Hedwig hooted softly at Pig's departure because she didn't really believe Pig acted the way a real letter-owl should act. He tied a thank you note to Hermione on Hedwig's leg, and she took off quickly and quietly, which was her fashion. Harry wanted to go back to sleep, but he remained wide awake. Just then, a small white owl swooped into his window and landed softly next to Hedwig on his bedside table. Harry's name was on the thick letter, so he opened it. The little white owl fluttered back out into the night. He knew this handwriting as well. It was from Professor Lupin.

_Dear Harry,_

_Happy Birthday! I have your present at headquarters. I didn't think it too safe to send it in the mail. You'll understand when you get here. I have to talk to you about a rather unpleasant topic. I didn't want to do it on your birthday, but I'm being pressured to. It's about Sirius' will. When you reach the legal age of seventeen, you will inherit headquarters and all the belongings thereof and all of the money in Sirius' vault at Gringott's Bank (vault 661-Dumbledore is looking after the key for you). He also had a letter for you. I have enclosed that as well. Again, I am sorry for bringing this up on your birthday, but I was told I had to notify you on the matter. I hope you are well. See you soon._

_Sincerely,_

_R.J. Lupin_

Harry didn't know whether to open the letter now or not. He had done his best to keep Sirius from his mind this summer, and now he was staring straight into Sirius' own words. He drew a deep breath and began to read.

_Dear Harry,_

_If you are reading this, I am no longer with you. I know this must be hard for you to read this, but I had to tell you a few things. When I first met you as a young man, you reminded me so much of James that it was uncanny. You grew over the years, and I never thought I could be so proud. I never had a son of my own, and you filled that empty part of me. Whatever happened to me was my own doing. I am a grown man. I know you take after your dad in the fact that you like to put the guilt on yourself. Do not blame yourself. Fate was decided for me long before you came along, Harry. I must ask you three things now that I'm gone. First, remember me not as the prisoner of Azkaban you first met, but as your parents best friend. Always remember I loved them and you dearly. Second, always stay close to your friends. They are your lifeline and more important then you can even possibly imagine at your age. Third, and most important, practice Defense Against the Dark Arts. Practice every day and practice hard. You have the power to conquer Lord Voldemort, but you must also gain the knowledge. Take care Harry. I will see you again one day._

_Your Godfather,_

_Sirius Black_

Harry stood stock still in the middle of his room staring out the open window. A dog barked in the distance, and Harry smiled.


	2. Back to the Burrow

Harry awoke the next morning at five to a large barn owl pecking at his head. The same owl delivered the Daily Prophet every morning at the same time. Harry got up, grabbed a knut from his school bag, and gave it to the owl. It hooted softly, dropped the paper on his bed, and flew out the window into the early morning light. Harry flopped back down on his bed and opened the paper. There in big, bold letters on the front page was the headline:

_**Order of the Phoenix praised for Noble**_

_**Services to the Ministry of Magic **_

Under the title of the article was a picture of Cornelius Fudge handing a plaque to Albus Dumbledore, Harry's headmaster at Hogwarts, and vigorously shaking his hand. As the picture moved, Harry noticed that Dumbledore had a look of unease on his aged face.

"_I wonder why he looks so unhappy_," Harry thought, and he couldn't help but notice that his headmaster looked very worried and older than usual.

He scanned the rest of the article, and while it didn't mention any other names besides Dumbledore's, it did mention some of the things that Harry knew the members of the Order were working on. The article mentioned how relationships with the giants were gradually becoming more stable and how well the member of the Order thwarted Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic last June. Harry laid the paper down, and his mind wondered back to that day in the Ministry. He had never felt guilt at this level for putting his friends in danger and pulling Sirius there and not to mention the fact that he had become completely unhinged to Dumbledore. While he felt Dumbledore should have kept him informed about some things, Dumbledore was the only person that truly believed in Harry, and he felt extremely guilty for his childish actions. His eyes wondered to the pile of birthday cards and Sirius' letter on his bedside table. Harry abruptly stood up and walked to his closet to find clothes for the day. He could no longer blame himself for all these things. He had made mistakes, but he had to focus on the future. His fate was yet to be fulfilled, and he was going to make damn sure the prophecy was going to go his way. He dressed and pulled out his potions' book from his desk. He had an hour until Aunt Petunia got up and cooked breakfast, so he might as well study. Since O.W.L.S were over, and it wasn't a N.E.W.T. year, he thought the teachers would lay off the summer homework. There was the same amount, if not more, then last summer. Harry read the passage about a potion for turning animals to different colors which said:

**_Different colors use different types of plants._**

_**For example, red would require bark from**_

_**the redgnom tree, which has a reddish tint.**_

_**Green would require the flower, viresca, which **_

_**is a deep forest green.**_

As he read over this, a memory stirred in his head. He remembered a spell with a similar word, and an eerie green light. He remembered a little girl that was vaguely familiar, and another girl-.

"Potter!" Uncle Vernon screamed from below, "your aunt has your breakfast ready!" He stopped yelling, and as if remembering Mad-Eye Moody's warning, said in a much quieter yell, "It's getting cold."

Harry slammed his book shut.

"Bloody git," he muttered and went down to the kitchen.

As he walked into the obsessively clean kitchen, Dudley raised his head and then quickly looked back down. He had been very skittish ever since Harry had come home. He really couldn't blame him. The first time he had come across a dementor he had passed out. It wasn't something you easily get over. Dudley, while still bigger than most small automobiles, had lost some considerable weight in the past year. He had been eating less and wasn't such a loudmouth big shot. He was usually extremely nervous. Harry sat down, and Aunt Petunia set a plate of eggs in front of him.

"What took you so long, boy?" Uncle Vernon asked.

"I was studying," Harry replied, reaching for the pepper.

Dudley jumped in his seat, which said a lot for the strength of the chair.

"I'm just reaching for the pepper, mate," Harry said, trying hard to suppress a smile.

It felt good to have Dudley scared. He had been tormented in his youth by his bully of a cousin.

"Don't worry about him, son," Uncle Vernon said, then glared at Harry, "watch yourself, boy."

"Vernon, let's not start," Aunt Petunia said, sitting down at the table. "We don't want any commotion."

Harry caught his aunt's pale watery eyes in surprise, and she quickly looked down at her plate. Uncle Vernon shoveled eggs in his mouth and remained quiet.

"I'm leaving today at four," Harry said.

"How?" his uncle asked quickly, looking worried.

"Some friends are coming to get me," Harry replied.

Dudley looked at his mother and then at his father with his eyes full of nothing short then terror.

"Well, we won't tolerate any more disturbances in this house," Uncle Vernon said matter-of-factly, and Harry smiled into his plate knowing that there was nothing his uncle was going to do against his fellow wizards.

"Okay, then," Harry said, swallowing his last bite of eggs, "I'll go pack."

"You do that then," Uncle Vernon said.

Harry went to his room and began to gather all of his things. He made sure he had his Firebolt and all of his books and birthday presents. He double checked everything and began to read the Quidditch book Hermione had given him. He was absorbed in that until lunch. He quickly ate a ham sandwich and went back up to his room. Hedwig arrived back around three, and Harry put her in her cage with some water and owl treats. He paced until a quarter to four and then took his trunks down to the living room. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the newspaper, while Aunt Petunia was dusting the same spot on the mantelpiece over and over again. Dudley was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Dudley?" Harry asked sitting down on the couch.

Uncle Vernon lowered his paper and glared angrily at Harry and then at Hedwig who was rustling her large white wings noisily in her cage.

"Never you mind, boy," Uncle Vernon said at the same time Aunt Petunia said, "Boxing practice."

She had surprised Harry for the second time that day with her almost normal behavior toward him.

"Yes," Uncle Vernon muttered, glaring now at his wife, "We paid for an extra session, so he didn't have to be here when those frea-,"

Harry drew up a look of upmost hatred at his uncle which dared him to finish his sentence.

"People arrive to get you," his uncle finished.

"He's still very nervous about what happened last summer," Aunt Petunia said pointedly.

"We had to put him in therapy for it," Uncle Vernon said in a moment of sincerity looking ashamed that any son of his had to talk to a shrink.

Harry nodded, knowing all too well how the dementors could make you feel. Harry knew that if his cousin had had to go through even half the stuff that he had, Dudley would be in an insane asylum.

"What exactly did those things do my son?" Aunt Petunia asked slowly as Uncle Vernon shot her a furious look.

"Well," Harry began, thinking that is was totally bizarre to be having a civil conversation about magic with the Dursley's, "They suck all the happi-."

Before he could finish his sentence, there were several loud cracking sounds. Harry knew what it was, but he was so thrown off by his aunt screaming and flying across the room to his uncle, he fell off the couch. Five people had just apparated into the Dursley's living room. They were Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Arthur, Molly, and Percy Weasley.

"Percy!" Harry exclaimed, grabbing Moody's hand that he had kindly reached out to pull him off the floor.

"Yes, Harry," Percy began, looking very reserved (much like his protege', Cornelius Fudge), "I have seen the error of my ways and have come to be part of your advance guard. I also wanted to apologize for my actions last year. They were completely uncalled for. I was drunk with power, and I didn't seem to care whom I hurt. Can everything be forgiven?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed with happiness at Percy's speech, while Mad-Eye rolled his eye (for the other one was already rolling).

"Er, -no problem, mate," Harry said, looking everywhere but Percy's face.

Uncle Vernon stood in front of Aunt Petunia guarding her. Harry smiled at this because it had become strangely familiar every time any wizard come to pick Harry up. Mad-Eye thumped his way over to Uncle Vernon, his hair wild and crazy blue eye rolling freely in its socket.

"So how have you been treatin' him, Dursley?" he said gruffly.

His magical eye stopped dead on Uncle Vernon.

"They were fine," Harry said before his uncle could answer, "They actually fed me decently well this summer."

Mrs. Weasley scoffed at this and wrapped Harry in a big hug.

"It's so good to see you, dear," she said then lowered her voice, "But I'll bet I'll feed you much better at the Burrow."

"We're going to the Burrow!" Harry exclaimed, so excited that he wouldn't be returning to the black hole that was headquarters.

"We sure are, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, stepping up and shaking Harry's hand. "Dumbledore thought it would be safe enough. He thought it would be fun for you, but there will be Order members there on a regular basis."

Harry felt a stab of guilt as he thought of his headmaster. He knew that Dumbledore was trying to make up for keeping the prophecy from him for so long. Harry knew he would have to have a long talk with him and apologize for his actions last year in his office.

"We have done some vast improvements on headquarters, yet we still can't get that bloody picture off the wall," Mrs. Weasley said.

"That permanent sticking charm is tricky," Percy piped up, "But I'm sure a bunch of talented wizards such as ourselves will be able to accomplish the task."

Harry had the distinct feeling that Percy was doing some well-needed sucking up.

"How will we get there?" Harry asked, knowing, without a doubt, they weren't going to fly like last time.

They couldn't during the day. Harry saw Uncle Vernon shoot Mr. Weasley a look of fear remembering the floo powder incident two years ago when the Weasley men had picked Harry up for the Quidditch Cup. Harry followed his uncle's gaze to Mr. Weasley who was staring at a very old music box of Aunt Petunia's on an end table beside Percy.

"Fascinating," he muttered as he opened and shut the lid again and again.

"Portkey," Moody growled and everyone jumped. He surveyed the room with one eye, but kept his magical one directly on Uncle Vernon. The Dursley's had calmed down some, but were still standing extremely close to one another. Aunt Petunia just looked relieved that nothing had been damaged yet.

"Nymphadora, the portkey, please," Percy said briskly.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Percy? It's Tonks," Tonks herself said exasperated.

She stepped out from behind Percy, her hair a shocking lime green cut in a short bob. Aunt Petunia nearly fainted.

"Sorry I haven't been very talkative, Harry," Tonks said, not moving from her spot next to Percy. "Molly told me not to do too much while we were here. You know, my clumsiness and all." She put her hand to the side of her mouth and whispered, "She said your aunt might keel over if I broke anything."

Harry smiled and tried not to laugh.

"Tonks, the portkey," Mrs. Weasley reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot," Tonks said as she pulled an old, rusted hammer from a gold bag over her shoulder.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia gasped and stepped back.

"Calm down," Moody said, looking greatly irritated. "We don't have to use Muggle tools to hurt you, Dursley."

Tonks stepped forward, and as she raised the hammer to hand it to Mr. Weasley, managed to shatter the music box he had been admiring earlier.

Aunt Petunia dived behind Uncle Vernon again as he shouted, "I will not have you tearing up my house again you frea-,"

"What was that, Dursley?" Moody asked threateningly, his wild eye that had been fixed on Uncle Vernon was now spinning like mad.

Uncle Vernon's large face became the color of cherries, but he remained silent.

"Now, boys, stop it," Mrs. Weasley said, as if breaking up a fight between Ron and Fred. She pointed her wand at the music box, "_Musigo Reparo_!" she said, and the trinket was as good as new.

"I'll take that now," Mr. Weasley said, as he gently took the hammer from Tonks. "Alright, everyone grab on."

"Bye, then," Harry said to the Dursley's, and then couldn't resist saying. "Tell Dudley I can do magic legally next summer."

Uncle Vernon muttered something that sounded vaguely like a curse word. All six wizards put one finger on the hammer. Harry felt that familiar tug under his naval, and #4 Privet Drive vanished.

Harry fell hard to his knees onto a worn, but soft carpet.

"Harry!" two female voices cried in unison, and he was engulfed in a blur of brown and flaming red hair.

"It's so good to see you!" Hermione Granger said, stepping away from him.

Ginny still had her arms around him.

"I've been so worried about you all summer," she said finally, pulling away from him.

Harry could not help but notice how pretty she looked in regular Muggle clothing. She seemed to have lost a lot of the child in her since the Ministry of Magic. He had the idea that Ron wanted Ginny and him to get together. Ron didn't trust anyone else with his only sister. Harry just looked at her like the sister he never had, but he knew whoever she ended up with would be incredibly lucky.

"I'm just fine, Ginny," he said, ruffling her hair playfully. He looked at Hermione whose hair was straighter than usual. "I like the hair, Hermione," he said, pulling her into another hug.

"It's not as straight as the Yule Ball. That was just too much, but I thought I needed a change," she said.

Harry smiled at her. He valued Hermione's friendship more than ever now since she had stood by him faithfully last June. He stepped back and stared at the Weasley's living room. He hadn't been here in over a year, and he had really missed it. He saw the extraordinarily convenient grandfather clock that showed the position of every Weasley family member at any given time.

Right now, all but two hands were pointed at home. Fred and George's hands were pointed at work, so Harry knew they must be at their store in Diagon Alley. The Order members had spread out once they had arrived. Harry looked through the kitchen door and saw Mrs. Weasley furiously waving her wand as she prepared dinner. All of a sudden his vision was obscured by a red haired, freckle-faced boy stuffing a roll in his mouth.

"Wotcher, Harry!" Ron exclaimed, spitting crumbs on the carpet in the process. He entered the living room and slapped Harry on the back. If it was possible, he had grown several more inches over the summer holidays.

"Oh," Hermione said, "Happy Birthday!"

"Yeah, mate," Ron said, grinning. "Happy Birthday! Did you get our presents?"

"Yeah, I got them. Thanks so much," Harry replied.

"Hey, me too," Ginny piped up from behind Harry. "Happy Birthday!"

Harry could not get the smile off his face. Sirius had been right. He would value his friends above all else because they were the only true family he had.

"Weren't you supposed to be getting in from the South of France, like, yesterday?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Right after I sent your present with Hedwig, Dumbledore sent me another owl saying that we should all be together. I stopped taking my potions everyday weeks ago, so he said it would be okay."

Harry once again felt that familiar surge of guilt for getting her into that mess, and he looked down at the floor. He felt her hand on his shoulder, and he glanced back up at her.

"Don't even think about blaming yourself. We all decided to go on our own," she said kindly.

"Yeah, mate," Ron said, "Just think. We get to be here together for a month with nothing to do."

"Well, not nothing," Hermione said, "We still have homework to do."

Ron rolled his eyes, and he and Hermione walked into the kitchen. Harry could hear Ron saying that they all deserved some well-needed time off. Harry grinned and began to walk after them when Ginny caught his hand from behind him.

"I just wanted to tell you that I feel like the real Harry is back. I haven't seen you smile like that since our second year at Hogwarts," she said seriously.

Harry sighed and looked at her.

"Well, Ginny, you're right," he said, "I'm back, and this time, I'm not going anywhere."

He put his arm around her shoulder, and they walked after Ron and Hermione.


	3. The Good News and the Bad

Dinner was a wonderful event. Harry had not enjoyed people's company in so long that the mass amount of guests there was refreshing. There was Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, every Weasley family member, Hermione, Mundungus Fletcher, Professor McGonagall, Mad-Eye Moody, and Professor Lupin. Harry had been quite happy to see his favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He still looked very tired and pale, but his robes were not in their usual state of shabbiness.

"How are you, Harry?" Lupin had asked as he shook Harry's hand.

"I'm better than the last time you saw me," Harry replied.

"Things get better with time," Professor Lupin said with a sad smile.

Fred and George had apparated from work just as everyone was sitting down to dinner.

"Business is booming!" Fred said with a giant smirk on his freckled face.

"We'll have Zonko's gone under in no time!" George exclaimed with an identical smile. "You must come visit the shop when you buy your supplies for school," he directed at Harry and Hermione.

Ron turned to Harry and Hermione and began describing all the things he had seen at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Harry couldn't wait to go, but as he argued with Ron that he didn't need a headless hat because he had an invisibility cloak, he heard Professor Lupin talking to Tonks about the joke shop.

"This store sounds wonderful," he said. "Maybe I should go there and get myself something."

"Well, thanks to that bag of gold and the generosity of a certain someone, we can all go buy us a little something," Tonks replied.

"What does she mean?" Harry asked Hermione.

"You're not the only one that benefitted from Sirius' will, Harry," she said solemnly. "It seems he had a vast family fortune and wanted to share it with all his friends. I believe everyone at this table got something."

"I'd rather have Sirius back," Harry said.

"Me too," Hermione said, her voice thick, and she quickly turned her back to him.

Mr. Weasley had caught wind of their conversation and tapped his glass with his spoon.

"I would just like to raise a toast to the man who gave us so much and gave his life for our cause. Would everyone please raise their glass for Sirius Black?"he said.

Harry stood up and said, "To Sirius."

"To Sirius!" everyone chorused back and raised their glasses.

The next morning Harry was woken by loud screams coming from the room next to Ron's. His door burst open, and Hermione ran in still her nightgown.

"All Outstanding!" she yelled, jumping on Harry's bed.

Harry grabbed his glasses and sat up. "What are you talking about?" he asked her, trying to no avail to smooth down his untidy hair.

"Our O.W.L. results are in! Here are yours. The school owls just brought them. I got Outstanding in everything," she said in one long breath.

Harry took his letter from her hand just as Ron walked in from the bathroom.

"What is all the screaming about?" he asked.

"O.W.L. results," Harry said as he tore open his unusually thick letter. Three pieces of parchment were inside. Hermione noticed and stopped her speech about her grades to Ron.

"That's curious, Harry. I only had two," she said, puzzled.

Harry looked at the first page, which was the normal school supply list. The second were his results. They read:

_**Defense Against the Dark Arts-Outstanding**_

_**Astronomy-Outstanding**_

_**Charms-Outstanding**_

_**Care of Magical Creatures-Outstanding**_

_**Divination-Acceptable**_

_**Herbology-Outstanding**_

_**History of Magic-Poor**_

_**Potions-Excellent**_

_**Transfiguration-Excellent**_

"I did well," Harry said, sighing with relief.

"I did okay," Ron said quietly. "I got Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Charms, Acceptable in Herbology, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Poor in Potions and Divination."

"That's good, Ron," Hermione said encouragingly.

"It's alright," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I can't believe it," Harry said, reading his third letter once more to take it all in.

"What?" Ron and Hermione asked simultaneously.

"I'm the new Quidditch Captain," he said, still in shock.

"Wow! Congratulations!" Hermione said, jumping up and hugging him.

"That's fantastic, mate!" Ron said, giving Harry a high-five.

"I have so much to do," Harry said, and then turned to Hermione. "That book you gave me for my birthday is going to come in handy."

He turned to Ron, and they began discussing tryouts and moves.

"Boys," Hermione said, closing their door. "Thinking Quidditch is more important than grades!"

The weeks at the Burrow passed by all too quickly for Harry. Before he knew it, there were only three days before they were to return to school. He and Ron had been discussing Quidditch nonstop, and Hermione chastised them about leaving their summer homework until the last minute.

"We'll get it done in time," Ron said the day before they were to go to Diagon Alley.

"It's important," Hermione replied urgently. "Just because it's not a major exam year doesn't mean we should slack off on our studies."

"We understand, Herm," Harry said, twirling a garden gnome around and throwing it far out into the Weasley's backyard.

It was a beautiful summer day, and the three of them were soaking up some sun. Mrs. Weasley popped her head out of the kitchen window to check on them for the fiftieth time that day.

"Have you all got your school lists ready for tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yes," they all chorused back.

"Just making sure," she said before her head disappeared.

"I swear," Ron said, shaking his head. "That woman can be so ruddy nosy. We were trying to have a conversation."

"She's just worried, Ron," Hermione said, stroking Crookshanks, her squashed-face, ginger cat. "There aren't many Order members here today, just her and Charlie. Everyone else is at work."

"Why hasn't Charlie gone back to Romania?" Harry asked. "I know Bill got a desk job at the Ministry last year, but I thought Dumbledore wanted as many foreign wizards as possible."

"He's in the process of getting a job at the Ministry, too," Ron said. "Dumbledore said since Fudge is on our side now, we would have unlimited foreign information. Charlie said he wanted to stay near the family and the Order. It's everyone's main focus now."

"It should be," Harry said quietly, sitting up in his chair. "We all have to think about how to defeat Voldemort, especially me."

"Why especially you, Harry," Hermione said asked, sitting up quickly, Crookshanks falling off her lap. He hissed at her but then quickly caught sight of a garden gnome. "You're not thinking of taking him on alone are you?"

Harry breathed deep, wanting to tell his two best friends about the prophecy, but he didn't want them to have to worry about that on top of everything else.

"You'll never have to worry about taking him on alone, mate," Ron said, sitting up as well. "We'll always back you up."

"Er- I just meant with my past with him, he'll always come straight for me," Harry said quickly, making something up.

Ron nodded knowingly and sat back again, putting his arms behind his head. Hermione looked at Harry with deep concern but kept silent. Harry knew she thought something was up. She was the smartest witch Harry knew, and he had a feeling she would figure it out sooner or later. The trio sat there the rest of the afternoon talking and laughing until dusk fell.

Harry woke before sunrise the next morning. He put his glasses on and stretched. He walked over to Ron's open window and sat on the ledge. Pig hooted softly from his cage across the room as Harry pondered his situation.

"_Why does the prophecy have to be about me?_" he thought. "_Neville could have just as easily been struck by Voldemort, but Neville couldn't have made it through what I've gone through._"

Neville Longbottom was Harry's fellow Gryffindor, who was the most forgetful boy in their class. Harry tried to imagine Neville facing the basilisk or getting through the Triwizard Tournament. Neville had come very far in the past year, but Harry doubted he could have gotten through the trials and tribulations Harry had been placed in.

"_I'm going to have to be nicer to him this year,_" he thought.

He didn't know why he was thinking about Neville, except that maybe he felt Neville could have easily been in his shoes. Just then a door slammed downstairs, and Ron stirred in his bed. Harry sighed and got up to dress. He knew it was going to be a long day at Diagon Alley.

They had a large group going. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie were coming. As Harry got ready to go, he heard the Weasley house come alive. He heard Hermione and Ginny giggling about something as they walked down to breakfast. Ron finally woke up and bumped into shelves and doors sleepily as he prepared to leave. After a hearty breakfast, the Weasley's living room became a madhouse as everyone gathered there. They were traveling by floo powder and just as Ginny was about to say her destination, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Tonks arrived to accompany them. Ginny got out of the fire and there were greetings all around. Everyone finally settled down, and one by one, they approached the fire. Harry was the last to go before the adults. He had a feeling they did it that way to keep an eye on him. He got into the fire which felt like hot breath.

"_Diagon Alley!_" Harry stated clearly and threw down his handful of floo powder.

He kept his arms tucked in and closed his eyes as the world swirled around him. He slid out of the grate and caught himself with his hands before he fell on his face. He stood up, wiped the dirt from his robes, and looked around. He was at a row of fireplaces right next to Gringotts, the wizarding bank, that he had never noticed before. He spotted Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to his right and walked over to them.

"I guess I got it right this time," Harry said, grinning.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, checking over her school supplies list.

"In our second year, I ended up in Knockturn Alley," he replied. "That was interesting."

"I remember that," Ginny said laughing.

The adults showed up a few seconds later, and they all went into Gringotts. After a stomach-turning ride on one of the Gringotts' carts, they headed down Diagon Alley. They all agreed to buy their school supplies first, and then visit Fred and George at the shop. Hermione split off at Madame Malkin's Robe Shop, saying that she needed some new robes since she'd grown a few inches. Harry remembered he needed some too, but decided to go later. He noticed Ron staring after Hermione as she walked off but didn't say anything. Harry, Ron, and Tonks entered Flourish and Blotts to find their books after splitting from the Weasley's and Kingsley who all had other errands. They had all agreed to meet at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor later on. As they looked around the store, Harry heard a voice he wished he never had to hear again.

"Well, well, scarhead," drawled Draco Malfoy, his pale, pointed face in a sneer. "Do you have to have a woman stand guard over you now? Can you not fight your own battles anymore?"

He was referring to Tonks, who at the moment was picking up a display promoting _Isley Icerley's Incredible Invisible Ink_, which she had knocked to the floor. Today, her hair was a violent orange and fell all the way to her lower back. She looked up, spotted who Harry was talking to, and quickly walked over.

"Harry, why don't we go meet Hermione," she said. Harry knew she wanted to avoid a scene with Lucius Malfoy's son.

"Oh, it's alright, Tonks," Ron said cooly, appearing by Harry's side. "Draco was just telling us how much he wanted us to beat his face in."

"Shut it, Weazel," Draco snapped. "So where's the Mudblood?"

"And you would care for what reason?" Harry said, gripping his wand at his side which he had taken out as soon as he heard Draco's voice.

"Oh, just wondering," he said nonchalantly. "Making sure 'someone' hadn't gotten her. That's all."

Ron rushed forward, but Tonks held out her arm and held him back.

"You're awfully brave with your words, Draco," Tonks said calmly. "With your father in jail and all."

"Oh, that'll change soon enough," he said secretively. "I have to go-."

"Draco, darling," a voice called from the entrance to the store. Draco's mother stood at the door. She was a very pretty woman, but her nose was so upturned it almost touched her forehead. "We must go, dear. We're having tea at four with some of your father's friends."

Harry and Ron burst out laughing, knowing that Draco had just eaten his words about being guarded by a woman. Draco turned quickly and stalked off.

"Narcissa is a lovely woman," Tonks said sarcastically. "I can see she's past her manners on to her son. Let's go boys."

As they walked to meet everyone at the ice cream parlor, Harry and Ron discussed what had just happened.

"What did he mean 'that'll change soon enough'," Harry said.

"I dunno, mate, but we had better keep an eye on him this year," Ron replied, and Harry nodded in agreement.

As they entered Fortescue's, Mr. Weasley ran up to Tonks and pulled her away to where all the adults stood huddled. Hermione was seated by herself at a table holding an armful of packages.

"What's going on?" Harry asked her as Ron and him sat down.

"I'm not sure. Some woman walked up to Mrs. Weasley a few minutes ago and whispered something to her. All of the adults started talking in hushed tones after that," she said.

"I wonder what's up," Ron said, glancing at the circle of grownups.

They finally broke up and walked over to their table.

"Let's go," Mrs. Weasley said, a strained look on her usually pleasant face.

"Are we going to Fred and George's store?" Ron asked.

"No, son," Mr. Weasley said. "We have to go to headquarters right away."

"But why?" Harry asked, not ever wanting to go back to that dreary place. "We haven't even gotten all our supplies."

"I'll come back for everything else before you kids go to school," Mrs. Weasley said, nervously glancing around.

"First, at least tell us what's going on," Hermione asked calmly.

All the adults shared sideways glances.

"There was a mass breakout at Azkaban. ," Charlie finally said in a hushed voice. "All the prisoners attacked at once, and the Aurors couldn't take them all. And it's not just the prisoners we got last June at the Ministry; it's all of them."

Hermione gasped. "Oh, this is terrible!" she said.

Mrs. Weasley sat beside her and hugged her.

"We had a feeling this might happen," Bill said, looking furious and scared.

"This is not the time or the place to discuss this," Mr. Weasley said, looking beyond stressed. "Let's get these kids back safe."

As they all walked back to the fireplaces at Gringotts, Harry silently fumed. "This was not a good turn of events for the Order," he thought. "Will anything ever go our way?"


	4. A Conversation with Dumbledore

Harry, Ron, and Hermione gathered their things quickly and quietly as they were all deep in thought about their precarious situation. Harry desperately did not want to go back to headquarters, but he also knew everyone would be safer there. They dragged their trunks and animal cages downstairs and sat quietly in the living room. It was quite like the scene earlier that morning. The adults ran about the house in a rush trying to get things situated. Owls delivered letters nonstop, no doubt from the Ministry or other Order members.

"I wish you could have gotten to see the twins' shop," Ron said, finally breaking the silence.

"That's not the most important thing on our minds right now, Ron," Hermione snapped, standing up quickly and striding over to the open window.

She played with the worn curtains as Crookshanks purred loudly and became tangled in her feet.

"Don't snap my head off, Hermione," Ron said through clenched teeth. "I was just trying to break the silence. It was killing me."

Hermione turned and sighed, looking straight at Ron.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You're right. It was killing me, too. I'm just really high strung at the moment."

Ron's eyes bugged out as he realized he had won a fight against Hermione. That rarely happened. Hermione walked over to the couch and sat beside Ron. She put her face in her hands and began to cry. Harry and Ron looked at each other. Neither of them had ever been in this situation before. Hermione rarely fell apart. She was usually a rock.

"What's wrong, Herm?" Ron asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm just so worried," she said and hiccuped loudly.

"About the Deatheaters," Harry said.

"Yes," she said, drying her eyes. "I'm afraid they will come for me because of my parents. Some of those Death Eaters' sole reason for living is to torment wizards of Muggle parentage. I'm not trying to be selfish, but I can't help but worry that they will come after me or my parents. Draco hates me. He could get his father to send people after me."

"Herm, we won't let anything happen to you," Ron said, still with his arm around her.

"You will always be safe with us," Harry said standing and walking to the window. "I won't be making any of the same mistakes that I made last year. I promise."

"Oh, I know, Harry," Hermione said, looking up at him. "You were only concerned for Sirius. I think I would act exactly the way you did if my family were in trouble."

Harry smiled a strained smile at her and looked at Mrs. Weasley's clock. How many times this year would those hands point at mortal peril? Harry heard Ron and Hermione whispering to each other, and Ron still had his arm around her. They looked so happy sitting there together, and Harry was glad that maybe they were realizing what everyone else had seen for years. Everyone knew they belonged together. Harry quietly walked into the kitchen.

"Mrs. Weasley, is there anything I can do?" Harry asked.

"Oh, no, dear," she said, looking flustered as she jotted something down on a piece of parchment. "Mr. Weasley just went to fetch us a Portkey. We need it quickly, so it will be unauthorized. Mind that you don't tell many people that, dear."

"Oh, no, ma'am," Harry replied.

Suddenly there was a crack, and Mr. Weasley apparated into the kitchen.

"I've got the Portkey, Molly," he said, holding up an extremely dirty hubcap. Harry didn't really relish putting his hand on that. Mr. Weasley tapped the grimy hubcap with his wand and said, "_Portus!_"

The hubcap shook slightly and glowed blue for a few seconds. "This train leaves in ten minutes," Mr. Weasley said.

"Will you go fetch Ron and Hermione, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked him. "I'll go get Ginny."

Harry returned to the living room and found Ron and Hermione deep in conversation.

"Your mum says we're ready to leave," Harry said, hating to interrupt them.

They got up, and Harry reached for his trunk by the window and froze. There was a single piece of parchment on the top of it. It read in very neat handwriting:

_The Green Flame Torch is the only way._

"Who put this here?" Harry asked, swinging around to face his friends.

They both read it and shrugged.

"Nobody came in here, Harry," Hermione said. "Not even an owl."

With these words on the parchment, Harry suddenly remembered vividly the dream he had had on his birthday. He saw the Green Flame Torch in the Forbidden Forest and the two girls. The two girls were the only things he couldn't see clearly. Their faces seemed fuzzy in his memory. He stared at his friends with the mysterious slip of parchment still gripped tightly in his hand.

"What is the Green Flame Torch?" Hermione asked.

"I don't have a clue," Harry said, scratching his head. "But I have heard the name before."

He preceded to tell his friends of his dream.

"And you can't remember who the two girls were," Ron said after Harry had finished.

"No, only their conversation, and only snatches of that," Harry said, frustrated with his lack of information. "One girl was going to lie to Dumbledore about the torch because she supported Voldemort."

"_Don't say his name!_" Ron hissed.

Harry ignored him and kept thinking. Who had sent it? An extremely large group of Death Eaters had just escaped. Could it have been one of them? Harry's head was a jumble of different feelings, but he couldn't help but feel as if this piece of parchment wasn't from Lord Voldemort. He couldn't shake this intuition that whoever wrote this was trying to help him. Yet, he couldn't let his guard down. Voldemort could easily be baiting him.

Mrs. Weasley called for them in the kitchen, and Harry was torn away from his dilemma. Harry stuffed the parchment into his jeans' pocket and walked after Ron and Hermione.

They all arrived at Grimmauld Place and stood to the left of number eleven.

"Everyone, think of headquarters," Mr. Weasley said in a whisper.

Harry didn't really want to, but he thought of the drab, depressing house that was headquarters. A clean, neat little house slowly became apparent in between number eleven and number thirteen Grimmauld Place. Harry could have sworn when he had arrived here last year the house had been filthy on the outside as well as in.

"Come on, Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, ushering him in the front door.

The first thing Harry thought as he stepped over the threshold was that he was back at the Burrow. The house was clean, airy, and bright. All of the Dark items had been removed and replaced with flowers and smiling pictures of wizards, sort of like Hogwarts. They waved to Harry as he looked around. Harry smiled at the sight of it. He figured he would be quite depressed staying here, but it might not be so bad. He would still be painfully reminded of Sirius, but he knew Sirius would have liked the changes.

"I like it," Harry said.

"You still have to keep your voice down, Harry," Mr. Weasley said. "That damned picture still won't come down."

A thought suddenly occurred to Harry.

"Kreacher isn't here, is he?" he asked, slightly hoping he might be so he could add the fiendish house-elf's head to Mrs. Black's old collection.

"No," Mr. Weasley said. "Once Sirius died, he went to work for the Malfoy's. Narcissa is the only Black left that he will obey."

Harry nodded, a little disappointed he hadn't gotten to kill the little, lying rat. Him, Ron, and Hermione took their trunks upstairs to the rooms they had occupied last time.

"They've done a lot with this place," Harry said as they all sat down in his and Ron's room.

"Yeah, mum's been slaving over it since Christmas," Ginny said, flipping through her new _Witch Weekly_, which cover read "Weird Sisters Split!"

"Oh, they split up!" Hermione said, spotting the headline. "I had so much fun dancing to them at the Yule Ball."

"No, you just liked dancing with Krum," Ron said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, if you wouldn't have asked me as a last resort, maybe I would have been dancing with you," Hermione shot back, but she was smiling.

Ron blushed, but smiled back at her. Ginny glanced at Harry from across the room. Harry could tell she was surprised that hadn't exploded into one of their notorious screaming matches. Harry mouthed the word later at her, and Ginny grinned and hid her face with her magazine. Harry really didn't want to talk about if Ron and Hermione were together or not. He wanted to discuss his dream.

"So what do you think about this torch dream?" he asked his friends.

"What torch dream?" Ginny asked, looking quite confused.

Harry quickly filled her in on the dream and the mysterious slip of parchment.

"So you guys didn't see anyone come into the living room," Ginny asked Ron and Hermione.

"No," Hermione replied. "We were deep in conversation, but we would have noticed something."

"I've never heard anything on a Green Flame Torch," Ron said.

"It's not even mentioned in _Hogwarts, A History,_" Hermione said.

"I think you should talk to Dumbledore," Ginny said seriously.

"I think you're right," Harry said. "I have to talk to him anyway."

"About what?" a sly voice suddenly spoke up.

Everyone jumped and looked at the seemingly empty painting on the wall. Phineas Nigellus, an intelligent-looking wizard with a pointed beard was standing in the ornate frame. He was one of the many paintings that hung in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts of previous headmasters. Many of those paintings could travel to and from other paintings around the wizarding world and gather information for the current headmaster. Phineas happened to be at Grimmauld Place because he was Sirius' great-great grandfather.

"Well, speak up, someone," Phineas said. "What did you want to talk to him about? You might as well tell me because you know I'll find out being hung in his office and all."

"Just about some stuff that happened last year," Harry muttered.

"About the little temper tantrum you threw in his office," Phineas said.

"What is he talking about, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Harry said. "Phineas, go away."

"Oh, you haven't told your-,"

"_SHUT-UP!_" Harry yelled.

He didn't want his friends finding out about the prophecy this way.

"Well," Phineas said, looking quite insulted. "I guess I'll go and have a chat with Dumbledore then, since you seem to be on the verge of another meltdown."

"Yeah, go back to his office," Harry said, extremely glad he was leaving.

"Oh, no. I'll be right downstairs. Albus mentioned he would be eating here for dinner tonight," Phineas said nonchalantly, straightening his robes.

Hearing this, they all looked at each other, jumped up, and ran from the room.

"And good day to you, too," Phineas said haughtily to the empty bedroom as he left the painting.

They ran downstairs, but stopped quickly when they reached the curtains that covered Mrs. Black's painting. Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen and spotted Harry and the others.

"Oh, Harry, Dumbledore is here and would like a word with you," she said.

Harry turned to his friends.

"I'll tell you everything later," Harry said and walked through the kitchen door.

Dumbledore sat at the head of the table talking quietly to Mr. Weasley. Dumbledore looked up as Harry entered and smiled. His half-moon glasses and long white beard gave him a look of a grandfather, but everyone knew that Albus Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of the time.

"We'll finish this later, then, Arthur," Dumbledore said to Mr. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley nodded and quickly left the room.

"Well, hello, Harry," Dumbledore said, motioning for Harry to have a seat next to him. "We have quite a few things to discuss, but first I would like to say congratulations on your O.W.L.s and making Quidditch Captain."

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied, sitting to Dumbledore's right. "I would like to say something first, sir."

"Of course, Harry, by all means," Dumbledore said.

"First, I want to apologize for my actions in your office. They were out of control, and, er, if you want, I will replace the items I broke."

"Harry, don't think on that for a second. Like I said then, I have too many trinkets. I should be thanking you for downsizing my rather overlarge collection."

"Okay, then," Harry muttered, not knowing how to bring up what he really wanted to talk about.

"What I wanted to discuss with you, Harry, is about your Occlumancy lessons," Dumbledore said.

Harry looked up sharply at his headmaster, but Dumbledore was moving on.

"With your unfortunate incident with Professor Snape last year, I'm afraid it would not be beneficial for you to take lessons with him any longer."

Harry scoffed at this as he thought Dumbledore had never spoken a truer word.

"I have found a new instructor," Dumbledore continued. "His name is Marlin McAllister, and he is a trained professor for Occlumency at the Institution for Higher Magical Learning in London. You will be taking lessons from him once a week starting in October. He was kind enough to make the trip for me."

"Sounds great," Harry said.

He didn't really care to continue Occlumency, but maybe it would be better without Snape. That was one thing he still was quite bitter over. He would never forgive his Potions instructor for not helping him last year. He would just have to grit his teeth and get through N.E.W.T level Potions. He had to have it to become an Auror.

"I also wanted to tell you that I believe you are an adult now and should be informed of certain things. I made the mistake of not filling you in before, and I don't intend on doing it again. Now, I can't tell you everything that happens because you are not a member of the Order yet, but I will tell you what I think you should know."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said.

"Is there anything else you would like to ask me?" Dumbledore said, as if he knew Harry was building the nerve to ask him about the torch.

"Er-yes," Harry said. "Two things actually- Why did you look so upset on the cover of the _Daily Prophet_?"

Dumbledore hooked his long fingers together and rested his chin on them.

"I didn't want our Minister of Magic laying the Order's affairs to everyone, but he insisted on the award and the article. He wanted to put everyone's name in the paper that worked for the Order, but I refused. I don't want anyone in anymore danger," he said.

"Okay, one more thing," Harry said. "Have you ever heard of the Green Flame Torch?"

With these words, Dumbledore's eyes flashed, and he sat up straight.

"So you know then," Dumbledore said slowly.

"No, I don't know anything, but I had a dream-,"

All of a sudden, Mr. Weasley burst in the door clutching a piece of parchment in his hand.

"Albus, you must come quickly," he said, looking frantic. "There's been an attack."


	5. Kingsley's House

Dumbledore stood up so quickly his chair toppled to the floor.

"Where?" he asked.

"The Shacklebolt's house," Mr. Weasley said, wringing his hands.

"We must go there at once," Dumbledore said.

He looked calm, steady, and dangerous. Harry could see why Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort feared.

"Who is to stay with the children?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I will," Mrs. Weasley said, silently entering, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"We need you, Molly," Mr. Weasley argued.

"Do you have another suggestion? Because if you do, I'd love to hear it," she shot back, crossing her arms.

"Take us," Harry said suddenly, and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny nodded eagerly.

"No," Mrs. Weasley said and scoffed as if Harry's suggestion was the most absurd thing in the world.

"No, really," Harry said, the wheels in his head turning. "If you leave us without guard, it would be the perfect opportunity for Voldemort to strike here."

"No one knows where headquarters is, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said in "nice try" sort of way.

The three adults prepared to Apparate, and Harry suddenly thought of something.

"Kreacher!" he shouted.

Everyone turned to face Harry with questioning eyes.

"He doesn't have to obey Sirius anymore. He could have told the Malfoy's where this place is. Dobby could tell me things about Lucius. I know Dumbledore's the secret-keeper, but what if they found a way to break that," he finished, out of breath.

The adults had a conversation with their eyes above everyone's heads. Harry could tell they were skeptical, but he knew he had placed doubts in their minds.

"Charlie's letter said they were gone," Mr. Weasley said to Mrs. Weasley.

"Whatever course of action we take, it must be quick," Dumbledore said.

"Alright," Mrs. Weasley said, giving up.

She whirled around and faced them.

"But if any one of you goes wandering off, as you tend to do, I swear by Merlin I'll break your wand in half!" she threatened, and they weren't about to argue with her.

Mr. Weasley grabbed a saucer from the cabinet and quickly turned it into a portkey.

"Everyone grab on," Mr. Weasley said. "It will take us in thirty seconds."

Harry touched one finger to the saucer and Grimmauld Place vanished.

Harry fell hard onto the grass. He quickly pushed himself up, took his wand out, and looked around. He was in front of a nicely kept, two-story house. He couldn't tell where they were, but once he glanced at the sky, he stopped caring. There, hovering menacingly above the house was the Dark Mark. It glittered and glowed in the sky as if made of thousands of green stars. The giant skull had a snake protruding from its open mouth and seemed to be suspended in the smoky green haze that emitted from it. Harry suddenly remembered Mr. Weasley's words at the Triwizard Tournament after Harry had seen the Dark Mark for the first time.

_"Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside . . . everyone's worst fear . . . "_

Harry got chills as he remembered these words and at what they may find in Kingsley's house. Everyone slowly began to walk up to the house. There were several loud popping noises and about a dozen Order members Apparated to their left, including Tonks, Moody, Lupin, Bill, Percy, Mundungus, and other new members Harry had not met.

"Molly," Tonks said, running over to them. "What are the children doing here?"

"We needed all the Order members we could, and we couldn't risk leaving them unattended," Mrs. Weasley told her.

Harry heard a voice call from inside the house and recognized it as Charlie's. They could see him beckoning to them from a from an open front window.

"Dad, they're gone, but the men need to come inside. Let the women guard out front. They don't want to see this," he said, and Harry noticed panic in his voice.

"Men, inside," Moody ordered and thumped off toward the house.

Ron and Harry started foward, but Mr. Weasley's arm shot out in front of them.

"Don't push your luck," Mr. Weasley said. "Stay outside and guard with the women."

Harry and Ron stopped reluctantly, but turned back to face the others. The women had spread out and kept a close watch on the trees that practically surrounded the house. Harry looked around at the witches he had never met before. One witch stood off to his right. She had short brown hair and a rather round face. She had very large hips and wore robes of deep green. She looked very nervous and jumped at every breath of wind. Harry wondered if she might be related to Neville. Another witch standing by Mrs. Weasley was rather pretty. She had waist-length black hair and dark brown eyes. She was tall and slim and looked very young. Harry thought she vaguely resembled someone he knew, but before he could place it, the men came around from the back of the house. Dumbledore's face was grave, and the others looked too stricken to speak. Harry knew what was coming by the look on Mr. Weasley's face.

"They are dead," Mr. Weasley said, wrapping his wife and Ginny in a hug.

"All of them," Tonks said, her voice on the brink of hysteria. "Even the children."

"Yes," Charlie said. "There's nothing more we can do. I got here first and saw the Death Eaters Disapparate. I caught a glimpse of Malfoy and Bellatrix."

With these words, Harry's blood ran cold. He knew Bellatrix was wicked, but what kind of monster killed children? Then Harry suddenly remembered who the evil girl had been in his dream. He even recalled the younger girl calling her Bellatrix. He had never loathed anyone as much as that woman. She had killed Sirius, and Harry wanted to torture her beyond belief.

"I'm going to kill her one day," Harry said to Ron, who was hugging a crying Hermione.

Ron met his eyes, nodded, and pulled Hermione tighter.

Later that night, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Lupin, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat around the long wooden table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore had stayed behind to talk to the Ministry officials who had arrived, and Ginny had wanted to go to bed. No one spoke much. Mrs. Weasley had whipped up some tea for everyone with her wand, but all the cups sat full on their plates. The fire popped in the fireplace and lit up everyone's pale faces.

"_How could this have happened_?" Harry thought.

He hadn't known Kingsley that well. He hadn't even known he'd had a wife and two small children, but it still hurt to have him gone. Harry remembered the picture of the old Order Moody had shown him last year. Most of those people had been picked off one by one trying to defeat Voldemort. How many would lose their lives this time?

"What's going to happen?" Hermione asked softly, staring into the fire, gently stroking Crookshanks.

"I don't know, dear," Mrs. Weasley answered. "They will have a memorial service for them, I suppose."

"Why did they pick Kingsley?" Harry asked.

"They probably thought he knew things because he worked in the Ministry," Lupin said.

He sat with his hands on his knees looking completely drained. Harry knew it was not just the Shacklebolts' death that made Lupin look so ragged. The night after the full moon had been just one night ago.

"But dad's in the Ministry and so are other people," Ron said.

"Your father is more protected here," Mrs. Weasley replied. "Besides, last year your father _was_ attacked."

"Please don't remind me," Ron said gruffly.

"Kingsley knew what he was getting into when he joined the Order," Mr. Weasley said, leaning against a shelf in the corner with his arms crossed.

He had known Kingsley the most out of all of them and didn't seem to be taking it well.

"Well, his children sure as bloody hell didn't," Harry said, his voice rising as his anger spilled over. "They didn't join the damned Order."

"We know, Harry," Lupin said, shaking his head. "We know."

"Now do you realize why we don't want you in it," Mrs. Weasley said with sadness in her eyes.

"I just can't believe they struck so quickly after escaping from Azkaban," Lupin said in disbelief.

"Their leader was never one to lay low once he knew he had power," Mr. Weasley said. "He has an agenda and a deadly one at that. This war will not be easy."

"Are wars ever easy?" Harry asked quietly, feeling wise beyond his years.

"Alright, that's enough," Mrs. Weasley said. "We have a busy day ahead of us. You all need your rest before the trip to school tomorrow."

"Who gives a damn about school after a night like this one?" Ron asked Harry as they walked out of the kitchen.

Harry shrugged and shuffled up the stairs. He was too void of emotion to answer. All he could think of was his bed, and how it had never seemed so inviting.


	6. The Telling of It

The next morning was as hectic as every other day they had left for King's Cross. Animals shrieked. Things were dropped, broken, and forgotten. Mrs. Black's incessant shouts were heard from her portrait.

"_Filthy traitors! Defiling the house of my fathers!_" she was heard screaming.

Everyone was too busy to shut her up. They ran around the house gathering their things hurriedly. They were walking to King's Cross like last year. They congregated in the front hall to wait for the guard to take them. Lupin finally shut the curtains around Mrs. Black's portrait with great difficulty. He turned around and looked at Harry.

"May I speak with you alone before you leave?" Lupin asked him.

"Er-sure," Harry replied following him into the kitchen.

"I have your birthday present," Lupin told Harry, giving him a book.

At closer inspection, Harry saw it was a photo album. He opened it and there stood the three loyal Marauders in the first picture. His father stood to the left waving and running his fingers through his unruly black hair that was so identical to Harry's. Lupin stood in the middle waving politely, and Sirius was to the right smiling as if he owned the world. As Harry flipped through the rest of the album, he saw pictures of his parents and their friends at Hogwarts looking young and happy. Harry looked at Lupin with tears stinging his eyes.

"This is the best present I've received yet," Harry said softly, looking at the ground.

"Sirius wrote me a letter as well, and he told me to explore the attic of this house. He said there was some memorabilia I would like. I kept some for myself, but I thought you would like these. I was worried they would get lost or ruined if I sent them with the owl post," Lupin said.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry muttered.

"Call me Remus, Harry," Lupin said smiling. "And if you need me for anything while you're at school, you know how to get in touch with me. Just code your letter a bit because we never know who might be watching communication in and out of Hogwarts."

"I will, Remus," Harry said, and then he heard Mrs. Weasley call for him in the front hall.

"Goodbye, Harry. Be careful," Lupin said, and Harry walked away.

They arrived at King's Cross half an hour later accompanied by Tonks, Moody, and Mundungus. They had dressed normally in Muggle clothes, and Moody had donned the same ridiculous bowler hat he had worn last year to cover his eye. They all leaned through the barrier between platforms nine and ten to get to platform nine and three quarters. Harry smiled as he saw the Hogwarts Express. He was so elated to be going back to school. He was itching to play Quidditch and to see the castle that was his home. Everyone hugged and kissed goodbye, and Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny boarded the train. Ron and Hermione left to go about their prefect duties, and Harry and Ginny went to find a compartment. They found an empty one toward the back, stowed their luggage, and sat down.

"So you didn't get prefect," Harry said to Ginny.

"Oh, no. I don't want it," she replied with a mischievous grin. "I take after Fred and George, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Harry laughed and pulled out his Potions essay that he hadn't finished. Ron showed up about an hour later, and Ginny left to go find some of her friends. Ron flopped down on the seat across from Harry and sighed.

"Prefect isn't all it's cracked up to be," he said looking tired.

"Don't you like it?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but it's more Hermione's thing," he replied. "Speaking of Hermione, I wanted to tell you something."

Harry put away his Potions essay he had finally finished and stared at Ron. He knew exactly what was coming.

"We are-er-together," Ron stuttered.

"It's about bloody time!" Harry said. "Congratulations, mate."

Ron blushed the color of his ginger hair and looked everywhere but at Harry. Just then Hermione slid the door open and sat down next to Harry.

"Stupid first years," she said. "Were we ever that dumb when we were that age? I mean, seriously, who doesn't ruddy well know what a prefect is? I just had two first years ask me if the P on my badge stood for a house they didn't know about."

They all laughed, but Harry grew immediately somber. He wanted to be honest with his friends. Ron had just been honest with him, and Harry wanted to show him the same respect.

"Hermione, would you silence the door please?" Harry asked her.

"Um, sure," she said and waved her wand toward the door.

"I have to tell you guys something that is very important, and you cannot tell another soul," Harry said.

"Sure, mate," Ron said. "What's up?"

Harry took a deep breath and began his story of what took place in Dumbledore's office last June. His friends were silent when he finished. Hermione looked pale, and Ron looked nervous.

"So, it's killed or be killed," Hermione said.

"That about sums it up," Harry said, smiling sadly.

"Is that what Phineas was talking about last night?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered.

"_Was that just last night?_" Harry thought.

It seemed ages ago.

"You can't tell anyone," Harry said firmly.

They both nodded slowly, and Harry knew he could trust them. Hermione lifted the silencing charm from the door just as Ginny, Neville, and Luna Lovegood walked in.

"Hullo, guys," Neville said brightly as he struggled with his pet toad Trevor.

Luna drifted in behind him. Her dirty blond hair was in a loose braid and that permanent dreamy look was on her face.

"Hullo," she said, looking only at Ron.

"Um, hi," he muttered as he stood up to sit next to Hermione to make room.

They all talked and laughed for a while. Neville showed off his new wand he had bought. He had broken his dad's old wand at the Ministry of Magic last June.

"Yeah, my gran was pretty upset, but she seemed proud of me for fighting like that," he said.

The trolley came by, and they all filled up on sweets. Just then, the compartment door slid open again, and Draco Malfoy, with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle behind him, stood in the frame.

"Well, well, well," Draco said smugly. "If it isn't the reject cart."

"It must be," Hermione said coolly. "You're standing in it."

"Shut your mouth, Granger," Draco said, his voice rising.

"Get out, Malfoy," Harry said, not in the mood to deal with him.

"Now, now, scarhead," Draco replied. "Don't go talking to a prefect like that, or you might wind up in detention."

"I'll talk however I want to the son of a murdering fiend," Harry said, his green eyes fixed on Malfoy's face.

There was a collective intake of breath, and Malfoy looked taken aback for a moment.

"You might just be next, Potter," he said and turned away. The door slid closed, and everyone looked at one another.

"He'll get his one day," Ginny said, seething in anger.

"He's the least of our problems," Harry replied.

The train clanked on, and the weather outside could not have been better. Day melted into night as a swift, warm breeze blew in from the open window and ruffled everybody's hair. The train finally grinded to a halt at the Hogsmeade station, and everyone rustled around collecting their luggage. They filed off the train, and Ron and Hermione immediately went to help with the first years. Harry suddenly heard a welcoming voice.

"Firs' years over here!" Hagrid called. "Firs' years follow me ter the boats please!"

Harry ran over to Hagrid and hugged him.

"Well, hullo, Harry," Hagrid said cheerfully.

Rubeus Hagrid was the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts. He towered six feet over the average man (his mother had been a giantess) and always had a twinkle in his eyes, which were almost hidden by his bushy black beard.

"I got Outstanding on my O.W.L.'s in Care of Magical Creatures," Harry said.

Hagrid smiled widely and slapped Harry on the back. Harry stumbled and ran into a group of first years that had gathered around Hagrid.

"Well, congratulations, Harry, but I've got ter be off with these youngins' here," Hagrid said.

"See you later," Harry said and walked over to Ron who was retrieving Pig from Ginny.

Harry finally turned his attention to the castle. The tiny lights from the windows were bright specks against the black velvet night. The turrets and towers rose into the sky, and Harry thought Hogwarts had never looked so majestic. Hermione joined him, Ron, and Ginny, and they walked to the carriages that would carry them to the castle. Harry looked at the thestrals that had alarmed him so much last year. He was quite fond of them now and patted one of them on the neck before he got into the carriage.

"Did I ever tell you guys that Bellatrix was the evil girl in my torch dream?" Harry asked his friends as the carriage rattled up the dirt road to the castle.

"Really," Hermione said, her eyes widening. "Do you remember the other girl?"

"No," Harry said, squinting his eyes in concentration trying to recall the little girl's face.

They pulled up to the front of the castle, and they all hopped down from the carriage. They climbed the steps, passed the winged boars, and stepped into the entrance hall. Everyone's shouts and laughter echoed through the massive room as they turned to enter the Great Hall. Harry caught a glimpse of Peeves the Poltergeist sticking something into a third year girl's ear. She shrieked, and he flew off cackling. They all found spots at the Gryffindor table. The enchanted candles floated in midair almost touching the ceiling, which magically reflected the warm, breezy night sky. Harry's stomach rumbled as the scared first years entered the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall led them to the front of the room and sat down a small, wooden stool. She placed a ragged hat, otherwise known as the Sorting Hat, on top of the stool. Harry glanced up at the staff table for the first time. Dumbledore was in the center, and he winked as Harry caught his eye. Harry waved, but kept scanning the table to see who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. He assumed it was the pretty, young witch to the right of Snape, for she was the only new person. Harry did a double take and realized it was the witch he had seen the night before at Kingsley's house. He tried to remember who she resembled, but the Sorting Hat's brim had torn open, and it began to sing.

_I am the Sorting Hat_

_Sewn long ago_

_Which can speak of the 'morrow_

_And days of the old_

_Upon your heads I sit_

_And name you to houses_

_All four of them great_

_Any one of you may lounge in_

_Courageous Gryffindor_

_No danger untold_

_Students in this house _

_Are brilliant and bold_

_Stealthy Slytherin_

_Determined and focused_

_Watch them with both eyes_

_Or they may swarm you like locusts_

_Witty old Ravenclaw _

_With its students so smart_

_They have studying and note-taking _

_Down to an art_

_Humble Hufflepuff_

_With their hearts of gold_

_They are a good mixture_

_Of all the traits shown_

_Here are the houses_

_Which reside in noble Hogwarts_

_But on the outside of these walls_

_Lay dangers in cohorts_

_Beware of great things_

_That are rising against us_

_Join together and blend_

_Do not dwell on grudges_

_Study the arts_

_That are plentiful here_

_So you may be prepared_

_For the dangers this year_

The students and teachers burst into applause.

Ron leaned over to Harry and muttered under his breath, "About the same as last year."

Professor McGonagall called, "Aplin, Gavin!"

As he was sorted into Gryffindor, Harry lost interest. He started staring idly at his plate and imagined the house-elves scurrying around beneath them preparing the feast.

Hermione jabbed him sharply in the ribs with her elbow to get his attention as, "Zimmerman, Alicia!" was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Harry was glad she didn't know what he was thinking about the house-elves, or she would have jabbed him much harder. Dumbledore stood slowly, and a great hush fell over the Great Hall.

"I have some very important announcements, but right now I don't fancy them being more important than the magnificent feast that awaits us. Tuck in!" he said, sitting back down.

The plates magically filled before them, and everyone began reaching in various directions to grab their favorite foods. Mrs. Weasley fed them well, but there was just nothing like a Hogwart's feast.

"Whozat?" Ron asked Hermione, motioning to the young witch at the staff table.

Hermione dusted bits of crumb from the sleeve of her robes that Ron had sprayed her with and gave him a disgusted look.

"I have no idea. I suppose she is the Dark Arts teacher," Hermione said, helping herself to some steak and kidney pie. "She is rather pretty."

"Yeah, she is," Ron said, gazing at the unknown woman.

Hermione shot him a look to kill. After everyone had finished and the plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood once again. The students fell silent and looked at him.

"Welcome new arrivals, and welcome back to our old hands. First, I would like to announce that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students, even those with the best intentions," Dumbledore said, smiling at Hermione who blushed deeply.

Harry knew he was talking about when Hermione had led Umbridge into the forest last year to escape to rescue Sirius. Harry felt a stab of pain at the thought of this and quickly pushed it from his mind.

"Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has posted a brand-new list on his office door of items banned from the hallways of Hogwarts that I believe includes every item from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Also, magic is not allowed in the corridors between classes. We have one new teacher to introduce. She is to take over the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, and she is Miss Gloria McGonagall," Dumbledore said.

"I thought McGonagall's name was Minerva," Ron said, looking confused.

Hermione and Harry rolled their eyes. The pretty witch waved and smiled, and Harry had to admit that she was quite beautiful.

"Miss McGonagall has just graduated from the Institution of Higher Magical Learning in London," Dumbledore continued. "We are very glad to have her with us. If you haven't guessed by now, Gloria is our Transfiguration professor's niece, and I daresay it will be confusing with the two of you here."

Minerva and Gloria smiled at him, and Harry could now see the striking resemblance between the two. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before.

"I believe everyone is ready for bed, so I shall now say goodnight," Dumbledore finished, and everyone rose from their seats.

Harry asked Ron the password before Hermione and him set off on their prefect duties.

"Believe it or not, mate, it's _Flying Thestrals_," he said and walked after Hermione.

Harry made his way to Gryffindor tower on the seventh floor. He stopped in front of the Fat Lady and muttered the password.

"It most certainly is, dear," she said and the portrait swung open.

The common room was deserted. Harry hurried up to the boy's dormitory. It was deserted as well. He quickly changed into his pajamas and climbed in his bed. He waved his wand at the curtains, and they closed. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to anyone. It was just that he had had such a good day, and he wanted to fall asleep before his thoughts were taken over by the events of the previous night. His head hit the pillow, and he was out before anyone else came in.


	7. The Revival of the DA

Harry woke up the next morning feeling rested. That was quite unusual because he usually woke up from some horrible or disturbing nightmare with his scar burning. The other boys rose one by one, and they began to dress to go down to breakfast. As Harry and Ron were about to walk downstairs to the common room, someone grabbed Harry's arm. Harry turned and saw it was Seamus Finnigan.

"Can I talk to you for a second, Harry?" Seamus asked.

"Sure," Harry said. "I'll meet you at breakfast," he directed at Ron.

Ron nodded and walked down to meet Hermione.

"Um, I was wondering about the defense club we started last year. I know I only went to one meeting, but I was just, um....," Seamus trailed off.

"What about it?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused.

"Well, are we going to start it up again? With You-Know-Who back in full swing, it is more important than ever that we learn to defend ourselves," Seamus said earnestly.

Harry thought for a moment. It was funny that Seamus would say something about this seeing as how him and Seamus had had quite the row last year about Voldemort being back.

"I think it's a great idea, mate," Harry said. "Do you still have your Galleon Hermione gave you?"

He nodded vigorously.

"We'll let you know through that," Harry said and went down to breakfast.

Hermione and Ron were already seated at the Gryffindor table, and Harry took a seat beside them.

"What did Seamus want?" Ron asked with a mouthful of eggs.

"He wants to revive the D.A.," Harry said, piling his plate high.

Ron paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, but Hermione didn't look very surprised.

"I've had several people ask me, too," she said.

"I think we should do it," Harry said. "Granted this time we should ask Dumbledore and make it open for anybody."

"I think we should have one meeting with the original members in case they don't want to make it open," Hermione said, looking thoughtful. "I mean, look what happened last time."

Her gaze shot over to Marietta who was sitting next to Cho. Marietta caught Hermione's eyes, and she made a quick exit out of the Great Hall. Hermione smiled to herself and continued eating, but Harry kept looking at Cho. Her sleek black hair hung down her back, and Harry wondered what had gone so terribly wrong last year. Girls were so confusing. He didn't understand girls and figured he never would. At least Voldemort came right out in the open and said he wanted to kill Harry. Why couldn't girls just say what they meant?

"What did Dumbledore say about the torch?" Ron asked him, breaking Harry's train of thought.

"We never got that far. Your dad came right in as I asked him. I'll talk to him about later," Harry said.

Just then, Professor McGonagall (senior) came over to them and handed them their schedules. Harry had Double Transfiguration first thing. After that was Double Charms and then Care of Magical Creatures. A quick break for lunch and then he had his favorite subject, Double Potions. He then saw his free period was at the end of the day, which was unusual. He didn't have Defense Against the Dark Arts until tomorrow which disappointed him a bit since he wanted to see what Gloria was like.

"Ugh," Harry heard Ron say as Ron looked over his schedule. "I have Double History of Magic and then Divination with Tralawney. That's just bloody brilliant."

Harry checked over his schedule to see who he had Divination with. He fortunately had it with Firenze the following afternoon. He sighed with relief.

"Wait. Why do we have Divination at all?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure," Ron answered. "I got a P on that O.W.L."

"I thought it was obvious," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "They need as many people they can to take up two teachers' classes."

Harry and Ron nodded at her explanation.

"Well, shall we go then?" Hermione said briskly, gathering her things.

They all had the same morning schedule with Transfiguration first thing. Their morning passed fairly quickly. Both McGonagall and Flitwick making speeches on how students should not slack off just because it wasn't a major exam year. As they walked down to Hagrid's cabin for Care of Magical Creatures, Hermione leaned over to Harry.

"I'll activate the Galleons for eight tomorrow night," she whispered in his ear.

He nodded in agreement and turned to see if the Slytherins still had this class with them. Harry sighed out of frustration as he saw Draco's blond hair gleam in the bright sunlight. He hated having this class in particular with them because they always made Hagrid feel bad or got him into trouble. Hagrid was standing behind his cabin next to a fenced in area.

"'Ello, class!" Hagrid said happily. "I trus' yeh all did well on yeh O.W.L.'s."

Most of the students nodded, and Hermione beamed.

"Well, I'll be startin' yeh all on N.E.W.T level creatures this year, an' today I've got a real special treat fer yeh," Hagrid said.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione exchanged worried looks with one another. Hagrid's "treats" had usually burned, stung, bitten, or tried to kill them in the past. Hagrid had a fetish for dangerous creatures, so Harry was very worried what was fenced in behind Hagrid. Hagrid moved, and Harry saw the most unusual creature. It had a sleek, fur-covered body that looked has if it might come up to Harry's chest. The body was that of a very strong, muscular panther or tiger, but its head was that of a ram's. It had two very large, curved, and very dangerous looking horns. Its white fur glowed in the sunlight, and Harry could see traces of gold in its coat. Everyone, except Draco's crew, oohed and aahed, and even Harry was eager to pet the beautiful creature.

"This here is called a herlicus," Hagrid said proudly. "It's usually very docile, but extremely useful in battle. It is _very_ strong, and in many magical land battles, they 'ave bin ridden ter a wizard's advantage. They will allow yeh ter pet 'em, but don' crowd on 'em, or they figure yeh are attackin' 'em. They are the fastest magical land creature known ter wizarding kind. They can reach speeds o' up ter seventy miles per hour, an' being butted with them horns at that speed ain't boun' ter feel good."

Several people laughed, and Hermione, being closest to the paddock, approached the herlicus first. She gently stroked its gleaming white fur, and it nuzzled her shoulder affectionately with its nose.

"I've named her Celestia. Yeh can all pet her, an' I want five major magical battles that have used herlicuses by next class meetin'," Hagrid said, and one by one, students approached the animal.

Parvati Patil giggled with delight when Celestia licked her hand. Harry stayed back because he wanted to talk to Hagrid.

"How's Grawp?" Harry asked in a low tone.

"Oh, he's good," Hagrid said, smiling broadly. "He's with a couple o' the others we got convinced on our side. He's well-mannered now and helping me translate ter the others."

"Where are they at?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"Can' be tellin' that, Harry," Hagrid said and looked up suddenly as Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle all advanced on Celestia.

"Now, don' be doin' that!" Hagrid yelled at him, but it was too late.

Celestia stamped her paw and ran after Draco. Hagrid had not been exaggerating her speed. She was lightening quick, and her muscles flexed with every graceful gallop. Draco ran behind Hagrid as he tried to calm the brazen animal. Harry, Ron, and Hermione laughed as they made their way up to lunch. Harry thought the sight of Draco running with his hands up in the air and cowering behind Hagrid just might get him through Double Potions with Snape. He was wrong. Snape had abandoned ignoring Harry's presence, which he had started after Harry had seen into the Pensieve. Now Snape seemed to make Harry's life a living hell. Snape slammed open the door to his dungeon classroom just as Harry and Hermione were taking their seats.

"First, to let all you know, this class will be much more tedious and dangerous than it has been," Snape said in a low menacing tone. He pushed his greasy black hair behind his ears and continued. "I see everyone has made it into this class I expected to, but others," his eyes shot directly at Harry, "somehow got into this class that can barely boil a pot of water, much less a complicated potion."

Draco and Pansy Parkinson snickered at Snape's obvious insult. Harry sucked in his breath. He could not afford to lose control with Snape because if he did, Snape just might be killed. He would never forgive him for goading Sirius last year and not helping them quick enough with Umbridge.

"We will begin this year with a very intricate potion called the Polyjuice Potion," Snape said.

Harry and Hermione grinned at each because they had both taken the Polyjuice Potion illegally in their second year.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said, looking at Harry and Hermione. "For not paying attention and laughing while I was speaking."

Harry gripped the arm of his chair and slowly counted to ten in his head. Snape told them the instructions for the beginning of the potion, and they all set to work. Double Potions seemed like triple as Snape eyed him and criticized his work every chance he got. As soon as Snape dismissed them, Harry and Hermione grabbed their books and left the dungeons quickly.

"That class is going to be hell everytime we go," Harry said to Hermione as they walked.

"I know. He is a horrible man, but we have to go," she said. "Well, I'm off to Arithmancy."

"See you later," Harry mumbled and watched her walk off.

He decided to go to the library to look up anything on the green flame torch. As he entered, he saw Luna Lovegood seated at a table by herself. She was reading a thick book called _Oracle Oddities _and was sporting her necklace of butterbeer caps. Harry suddenly remembered there was a favor he needed to ask her.

"Ahem," he said to get her attention as he walked up to her table.

She lowered her book and stared up at him.

"Hello, Harry," she said softly, never taking her eyes away from his.

"Could I ask you a favor?" he said.

"You can ask anything of anyone," she replied.

"Er, okay," he said, taking that as a yes. "Will you ask Cho Chang or her friend Marietta Edgecombe for Marietta's Protean Galleon back? We are starting the D.A. up again tomorrow night, and we don't want Marietta knowing when our meetings are, obviously."

"Sure, Harry. No problem," Luna said and turned to gaze out the window.

Harry got the impression that this short-lived conversation was over and walked away to the bookshelves thinking he had never met a stranger girl before. He searched his entire free period for anything about the green flame torch, but he came up empty-handed. He slammed shut _Major Magical Devices of the 18th century _in frustration, and Madame Pince shot him a look to kill. He gathered his things and headed for the common room. He was at the Fat Lady before he knew it.

"Flying Thestrals," he mumbled and climbed through the portrait hole.

Hermione and Ron were sitting in armchairs by the fire as he walked up.

"Hey guys," he said, as he slumped into the squashy armchair near Hermione.

"What did you do during your free period?" Ron asked.

"Looked up stuff on the torch, and I didn't find anything," he answered as Hermione opened her mouth to ask what he'd found.

"Are you going to post a date for Quidditch tryouts?" Ron asked him.

"Yeah. I'm going to post it tomorrow on the notice board. I'm going to make it for next Wednesday."

Ron nodded in agreement. Harry laid his head back on the soft chair and closed his eyes. It had been a long first day, but he had been through worse.

The next day dawned cloudy and gloomy. Herbology was interesting because they were starting to study Venomous Tentaculas, but none of them could wait to meet Gloria. They walked into class, which was fortunately only filled with Gryffindors. Harry had seen this classroom decorated so many ways according to the different teachers who had been here, but this was by far his favorite. She had put up many different pictures on the wall that included famous Aurors, diagrams of proper dueling methods, and magical dark creatures. They all took their seats and waited for her to arrive. Harry's attention was drawn away from a picture of two wizards preparing to duel in a courtyard when Gloria walked in. She immediately shut the curtains on all the windows, and strode to the front of the room.

"It's too gloomy to look outside today," she said grinning. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," they chorused back.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, don't call me that. That is what you call my aunt. That makes me feel a thousand years old. Call me Gloria in class, but stick with Professor McGonagall around the other teachers," she said and smiled again.

Harry already liked her. He had never had a teacher so cool before. Lupin had been wonderful, but he was older. Gloria had just gotten out of Auror training, so she couldn't be much older than them.

"I realize that your teachers in this class, good and bad, have taught you Defense Against the Dark Arts on very different levels," Gloria said.

"Umbridge didn't teach us much of anything," Dean Thomas said from the back and many people laughed.

"Too right you are, Mr. . . . ," she trailed off.

"Thomas, Dean Thomas," he said.

"Thomas. Don't worry. I am here to teach you basic defense. Some things will be very easy and others will be extremely difficult, but all of them are of vital importance," she said. "This class will basically be like the bottom level of Auror training for the Ministry."

Harry smiled. He thought this class sounded like a D.A. meeting. He looked around and saw many of the boys gazing openmouthed at Gloria. Harry thought she might be the counterpart of Lockhart for the guys. Harry looked at her again. Her long dark hair was pulled into a very long loose braid, and her equally dark eyes were intoxicating. But Harry couldn't get over her smile. It was dazzling. Harry shook his head to clear it. He wondered if his new professor might be part veela. Gloria continued on the rest of the class talking about basic defense, and referring to the book.

"I promise next class will be more hands on," she said as they left the classroom.

The rest of the day was most uneventful and before Harry knew it, it was half-past seven.

"Are you ready?" he asked Ron and Hermione.

They nodded, and they all left the common room with invisibility cloak and Maruader's Map in tow. They reached the Room of Requirement and talked until people started to trickle in. Everyone took seats on the cushions and kept glancing nervously up at Harry or the door. When he thought everyone was there, he stood up.

"Is anyone missing?" he asked.

"Just the obvious," Ginny said, referring to Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia, and Marietta.

"Alright, then," Harry continued. "First, I want to talk about keeping this club private or not. I want to take a vote on whether we should keep this a secret or tell Dumbledore and make it open for everyone."

"I think we should remain a secret," Michael Corner said. "The less people we have interfering, the more stealthy we can be."

"Here, here," Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot yelled.

Everyone threw their eyes at Cho who was sitting quietly in the corner by herself.

"But," Hermione interjected. "The more people we have, the more people to fight."

"Yes," Harry said. "But not everyone needs to be involved. They will get enough training from Gloria, and besides, I kinda consider us the elite. Not that we're better, but we do have an edge."

"Especially you, Harry," Neville said.

"Thank you, Neville," Harry replied. "So let's vote on it. Shall we?"

More than half raised their hand to remain secret, and so it was decided.

"Get with me if anyone has any new recruits in mind, but remember, they must be trustworthy," Harry said urgently.

They all nodded. Harry lined out what the next few meetings would include, and before they knew it, an hour had past. Harry checked the Marauder's Map and let everyone go in ones and twos. Cho passed Harry and threw something in his direction. He caught it in his hand. She looked at him with narrowed eyes and walked out the door. Harry looked down and saw Marietta's Galleon. He sighed at the mystery that was women.


	8. Quidditch Tryouts

The next week passed in a hurry. Everything passed by quite normal. Gloria came into class every day, closed the curtains, and commenced with Harry's now favorite class. Snape was being as foul as ever, and Hagrid was now teaching them the proper diet of a herlicus. Everything was rather dull and uneventful which unnerved Harry slightly. He was use to having dreams about Voldemort, and his scar had never gone this long without a tingle or a burn. In fact, Harry hadn't felt his scar fluxuate with Voldemort's mood since the end of last school term. He posted Quidditch tryouts the following Wednesday, and he was quite nervous. He had only led the D.A., and he hoped Quidditch would go as smoothly. Wednesday came quick enough, and Harry went down to the pitch with his Firebolt to practice during his free period. He kicked off from the ground and remembered how alive he felt soaring through the air. The air had a slight chill to it now as they moved further into September, and it felt refreshing. He practiced for an hour or so on some new moves that he had read about in the new book Hermione had given him. He finally slowed down and glanced down at the pitch. A small group of Gryffindors was watching him with their mouths open. He flew down quickly and hopped off his broom.

"You're amazing, mate," Dennis Creevey said, his eyes as big as Galleons.

"Thanks, Dennis," Harry said modestly.

He looked around and saw the team, minus Sloper and Kirke, standing a few feet away from him. He excused himself and walked to his team who was talking in hushed tones.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"Sloper and Kirke quit," Ron said, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Oh, that's too bad," Harry said sarcastically and Katie Bell and Ginny laughed.

They all turned toward the group that was eager to tryout, which included Dennis, Dean, Seamus, Parvati, her best friend Lavender Brown, and a young boy Harry didn't recognize.

"Who's that?" Harry asked.

"That's Mark Evans," Ginny said. "He's a first year, so I don't know how good he's going to be or if McGonagall will even let him play."

"Well, she let me play," Harry said. "Maybe if he's good enough, she'll let him."

Harry walked over to the team hopefuls.

"Hullo!" he said cheerfully. "We were only trying out for two new Chasers, but our two Beaters have mysteriously quit on us, so we will be filling those spots today, too."

Everyone's smile got bigger as they realized their chances of getting on the team had just risen dramatically.

"We'll be starting off just practicing some passes, then we'll split up and work with the whole team," Harry said. "Everyone in the air then!"

Everyone nodded enthusiastically, and they all shot upward on their brooms. Harry passed the Quaffle to Ginny who caught it gracefully and threw it to Seamus who also caught it well. Seamus threw to Dennis who dropped it, but Ginny swiftly flew down and caught it just before it hit the grass. Harry smiled and knew he had a just found one of his new Chasers. Ginny passed to Lavender who made an impressive catch. They split up after that, and Harry unleashed the Bludgers. Dean and Seamus were very good, and Parvati was okay, but Harry scratched her out when she wailed loudly that a Bludger had just broken her nail.

"Be thankful it wasn't your arm," Harry said to her remembering in his second year when he had to have all the bones in his arm regrown.

Parvati shot him a nasty look but kept playing. Harry then turned to watch Mark Evans. He was beyond impressed. While Mark wasn't as big as most Beaters tended to be, he still had strength and speed. His quickness helped him dodge Bludgers easily, and Harry once saw him hit a Bludger so hard, it caused Dean to go into a bad rendition of the Sloth Grip Roll. After an hour, Harry had made up his mind, and called them all down.

"I've made my decisions," Harry said. "Do you want me to tell you now or post it on the notice board?"

"Tell us now, mate," Dean said. "We can take it."

"Alright," Harry began. "Ginny Weasley and Lavender Brown are our new Chasers, and Mark Evans and Seamus Finnigan are our new Beaters."

Everyone clapped politely, and Harry saw Parvati stomp off toward the castle with Lavender calling after her. Dennis looked crestfallen, but Dean seemed to be taking it well.

"I think I'll be the new announcer," Harry heard Dean say to Seamus. "I just hope I can piss off McGonagall as well as Lee did!"

Everyone laughed, and Harry felt good about the team this year.

"First practice is next Tuesday," Harry told them, mentally making a note not to have a D.A. meeting that night.

"We'll be there, mate!" Seamus said, and they left the pitch.

Harry and Ron stayed behind and practiced until dusk. They finally called it a day and trudged back up to the castle. As they entered the common room, Harry saw Hermione diligently working on more elf hats.

"Are you still on about spew with everything else going on in the world?" Ron asked as he sat down beside her.

"It's S.P.E.W., and yes," she said, looking somewhat insulted. "House-elves still are not getting what they deserve."

"Especially Kreacher," Harry said, thinking Kreacher deserved to be used as a Bludger at their next Quidditch match.

"Even Kreacher," Hermione said. "He was old and didn't know-,"

"Shut it, Hermione," Ron said wisely.

"I hold Kreacher in the same respect as Wormtail or Voldemort," Harry said through clenched teeth. "Oh, just to let you know Dobby has been taking all of your elf clothes. Not one ruddy elf has been freed by you and your so-called 'hats'."

Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry stood up and marched up the stairs before she could say anything.

"Way to be tactful," Harry heard Ron say to her as he walked off.

Harry threw his wand on his bedside table roughly and changed into his pajamas fuming with anger. He flung himself on his bed and drew the curtains. He didn't think he would sleep for hours because he was so mad at Hermione, but as soon as he closed his eyes he drifted off.

"Now, Bellatrix," Dumbledore said calmly. "I'm sure she wasn't using it for personal mischief. I've known her for quite some time, and I don't believe she would use it to hurt anyone."

"She was, Headmaster," Bellatrix said in a falsely sweet voice. "I saw her talking to it."

"I wasn't going to use it to hurt anyone, Headmaster," the younger pleaded.

"Now, Dumbledore," another voice said from behind the two girls.

The person stepped up to Dumbledore's desk. It was Cornelius Fudge.

"I personally believe Bellatrix," Fudge said, eyeing the younger girl disdainfully. "But seeing as there is only word against word and no proof, I have a solution."

Dumbledore didn't respond, but looked at the Minister with a slightly amused look on his face.

"She needs to be punished for going into the Forbidden Forest," Fudge continued. "And this torch needs to be relocated immediately."

"Thank you, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Very well, then. You will receive two weeks detention," he directed at the youngest girl. "And the Minister and I will discuss what to do with the torch."

The younger girl opened her mouth to protest, but Dumbledore held up his hand.

"And I implore you not to go looking for it again, my little Lee."

With these words, the younger girl fell quiet and smiled weakly at Dumbledore, her eyes filled with understanding.

"You are both dismissed," Dumbledore said, and the two girls left his office.

As soon as they had cleared the door, Bellatrix turned to the other girl.

"Don't ever cross my path again, Mudblood," Bellatrix spat and stalked off to the dungeons.

The younger girl didn't say a word, and with a tiny triumphant smile on her face, watched Bellatrix until she couldn't see her anymore.


	9. Mandy

Harry opened his eyes the next morning as suddenly as if someone had poured ice water over his head. He sat up and the memory of his dream flooded over him at once. He remembered Fudge, Dumbledore, and Bellatrix, but who was that damned little girl? Harry knew he recognized her, but he couldn't figure out who she was. Dumbledore had called her his little Lee. Harry didn't know anyone named Lee except for Lee Jordan, and Harry _knew_ it wasn't him. Harry jumped out of bed and threw his clothes on. He had to talk to Dumbledore. Harry knew that was the only way to get some answers. It was early morning, but Harry didn't feel remotely tired as he scrambled out of the portrait hole and made his way to Dumbledore's office. He reached the large, stone gargoyle, but he found himself at a loss for a password. He started naming various candies, but the gargoyle remained spitefully still.

"What are you doing, Mr. Potter?" a voice said.

Harry turned around and saw Gloria standing behind him.

"Er, I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore," he said, wondering what she was doing up so early.

"I'm afraid the Headmaster went to London for Kingsley Shacklebolt's memorial service and funeral. He will be back in a few days' time. I believe my Aunt Minerva has been left in charge while he is away," Gloria said, squinting as the sun rose and blasted through an open window at the end of the hall. "Well, I must be going, Harry. I'll see you in class later."

She hurried down the corridor with her robes billowing behind her. Harry watched her walk away thinking there might be something more going on with their new teacher besides good looks. He sighed and headed to the Great Hall to grab an early breakfast. He was the first person in the Great Hall, and it felt a little creepy. The staff table was empty, and not a single laughing student was at a house table. Harry knew his voice would echo through the elaborate hall if he were to shout something right now. He took a seat at the Gryffindor table and saw by his watch that breakfast would be popping up in five minutes. Right on time, the golden plates filled with all kinds of breakfast foods. Harry didn't really taste anything as he chewed because he was so lost in his thoughts. It was completely silent in the Great Hall, but Harry's ears perked up when he heard two voices whispering by the staff table.

"Are you being careful?" one witch said that Harry recognized as McGonagall senior.

"Yes, but I almost blew it in front of the Potter boy this morning. Just standing-," Gloria cut off as her and her aunt spotted Harry.

He gave them a weak smile. They both nodded politely and took their seats at the staff table. They looked down on him with questioning gazes, but not for long as students had begun to file into the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry glanced up once more at his newest teacher who looked a little pale, and he reminded himself to tell Ron and Hermione to keep an eye on their prettiest professor.

September passed quickly, and Harry never got a chance to speak to Dumbledore. He was so busy with classes, D.A. meetings, and Quidditch practices that he barely had time to breathe. Before he knew it, it was the morning of their first Hogsmeade visit. Past visits had lost their luster and many sixth years weren't going, but Ron was running low on Filibuster Fireworks with Fred and George gone, and Harry was craving some butterbeer.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked as they waited on the first floor staircase.

"I'm not sure. She's usually up before dawn studying," replied Harry.

"She's probably already at breakfast," Ron said as they entered the Great Hall.

The Hall's ceiling was delightfully cheery this morning with the giant mystical sun warming the room and a crisp breeze slightly blowing everyone's robes. They found a seat at the end of the Gryffindor table near the teachers and started filling their plates.

Harry was reaching for some sausage as Ron said, "Oh, there she is. Wait. Who is that with her?"

Harry raised his head and glanced in the direction that Ron was looking and dropped his sausage. The girl with Hermione looked remarkably like her. She had slightly bushy brown hair like her, same height and build as Hermione, and she was wearing second hand robes. She looked like your everyday witch, but Harry couldn't stop staring at her eyes. They were the most brilliant green he had ever seen. They shined all the way across the room, and Harry was hypnotized. It was like catching the gaze of a veela, but Harry didn't seem to lose himself. Those eyes made him feel extremely aware that his hair would not stay down. While Hermione's eyes were brown and seemed to analyze books and information, this girl's eyes seemed to analyze people. As Harry was thinking that, those intoxicating eyes settled on his. She stared straight into his eyes, which was odd because most people looked right at the scar, as if they wanted proof he was Harry Potter. All she needed to do was look in his eyes, and she turned to Hermione and asked her something. Hermione nodded and motioned for the girl to follow her. The girl and Hermione were headed straight for them, and Harry smoothed his hair down to no avail.

He met her eyes once more when they were halfway to them and something in his gut screamed, "She knows how you feel!"

Harry sucked in a great deal of breath and looked down quickly. Ron looked at him sideways and then glanced up as Hermione and the girl approached.

"Good morning, boys," Hermione said, "This is Amanda Mallason. She's a sixth year like us and has just transferred from Beauxbatons. The sorting hat placed her in Gryffindor, and Professor McGonagall asked me to show her around early this morning. Mandy, this is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter."

Hermione sat down beside Ron and started to fill her plate, which left Amanda to sit next to Harry. As she sat down, Harry expected to hear a thick French accent, but to his delight she was American.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you both," she said as she shook first Ron's hand and then Harry's.

Harry felt as if the giant magical sun was inches from his face. She shook Harry's hand a little longer than Ron's and finally let go and started to fill her plate with food.

"Happy to have you in Gryffindor, Amanda," said Ron. "You got into the best house."

"Thank you, and you can call me Mandy. Everyone does." She smiled at them both, and Harry was sure his insides had melted. "I'm really happy to be here. Beauxbatons was never for me, and the orphanage I was at had to be run by Voldemort the way people acted there."

Hermione dropped her fork and Ron winced, while Harry just turned to look at her.

"Most people around here don't mention him as nonchalantly as I do," Harry said to her.

"I don't let things get to me. Nothing is frightening as people make it out to be if you just face it," she said, and Harry smiled at her.

"So you had to stay at an orphanage?" Hermione asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," she smiled as if she didn't mind being asked about it, but Harry saw a sadness that hadn't been there before flicker in those jewel-like green eyes, "My parents were the worst kind of Muggles you could come across. My father was in the Air Force for America, and we were stationed in France for ten years. When I got my letter to attend Beauxbatons, they absolutely forbad me to go. My father actually left the Air Force so we could move every month or so to escape from the barrage of owls. I missed my entire first year, but right before my second year Madame Maxime sought me out personally and tried to impress on my parents how important it was for me to go to a wizarding school. They agreed only under one condition, that I was to no longer be under their care. The decision was left up to me, and at the time I didn't realize I would never see my parents again. I went with Madame Maxime that day, and I haven't seen my parents in four years. Yet, now that I'm older, I realized I made the right decision because my parents never really cared for me if they couldn't accept me for what I truly was. I liked Beauxbatons, and doubled up on my classes to catch up with the other students."

Hermione smiled at her because she prided in herself and in others academic achievement.

"During the summers I would stay at a Muggle orphanage which treated the kids like vermin," Mandy continued. "I actually saw them beat children there. I can't believe they never hit me because I can be quite the smart mouth. While I was at Beauxbatons, I always seemed to want to learn more about Hogwarts. Especially in my fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament, I became obsessed. Madame Maxime would not allow me to attend because I was too young. Yet when I came back for my fifth year, she could tell I was not thriving like I could and she knew that I wanted to be somewhere else. She spoke to Dumbledore and here I am."

Harry felt a great rush of warmth for Madame Maxime at that moment. Mandy smiled slyly and looked down.

"Sorry," she said quietly and looked back up again. "I didn't mean to bore you with my whole life story."

"We're not bored," Harry said quickly looking at her and smiling.

Ron looked at him sideways again, but Harry didn't notice. Ron shook his head and spoke to Mandy.

"You're from America then?"

"Yep, but I don't ever want to go back. This castle feels more like my home then anyplace I've ever been."

Harry couldn't quit smiling.

As the four of them left the Great Hall, Harry heard the voice of his least favorite person.

"Well, hullo there scarhead. Who would this be?" Draco Malfoy said, with his usual evil grin on his pale, pointed face.

"Hello," Mandy said turning around and holding out her hand before Harry could tell her Draco wasn't the kind of person that shook hands. "I'm Amanda Mallason. You can call me Mandy."

"Oh," Draco drawled slowly, "I've heard of you. Why don't I just call you Mudblood?"

Harry thought he was going to use Avada Kedavra as he reached for his wand. Mandy put her hand on his arm as a signal for him to stop.

"Well, that's fine," she said coolly as she stepped forward to be right in Draco's face, "As long as I can call your father a murdering Death Eater."

Harry gaped at her but gave her a mental round of applause for being so bold.

"Are you scared, Mudblood?" Draco said nastily, not fazed at all.

Harry thought he was probably proud of his father for killing innocent people.

"Of you? No," she said quite calmly, "But you should be. Four against one isn't looking so good for you."

Just as she said that, Crabbe and Goyle stepped up on either side of Draco. To most people they looked fairly intimidating, but Mandy just smiled.

"Who are they?" she asked, "your bodyguards," and she burst out laughing.

She doubled over in giggles and didn't see Draco raise his wand.

Harry raised his to protect her, but before either Draco or Harry could get their spell out of their mouths, Mandy had straightened up, pulled out her wand and shouted, "_Impedimenta_!"

Draco was thrown back and landed hard on the floor down the hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione's jaws dropped, and they stared at Mandy.

"Watch yourself there," she called at Draco who was slowly getting to his feet. "Um . . . Malfoy, is it? I didn't get your first name. Oh, it doesn't matter. I really don't want to know it anyway."

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle stalked off, and Mandy turned back to her audience. She blushed violently and looked down at the ground.

"Sorry. I get really angry when people call me a Mudblood," she looked at them and then said, "Besides, he was a little ass, wasn't he?"

They all laughed and walked out of the entrance hall to start the long journey to Hogsmeade.

"How did you know he was a Malfoy?" Hermione asked Mandy.

"I had the very bad luck of meeting Lucius Malfoy, and that little snot looked exactly like him." she answered.

Hermione nodded and started to talk to Ron about something they had learned in Transfiguration the previous day.

"Oh, Transfiguration is my favorite subject," Mandy said.

"Do you like Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry asked.

"It's only second to Transfiguration," she said.

Harry was thinking about asking her to join the D.A. when he heard her ask Ron what they did for fun around here.

"Well, Hermione studies," Ron said and ducked as Hermione tried to slap him. "And me and Harry are on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I'm keeper and he's-."

"Seeker," Mandy finished for him.

She blushed again and looked at the ground.

"How did you know that?" he asked, looking at her.

"Well, when I was learning all about Hogwarts, your name was mentioned. I also saw your name in _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_. I found your story fascinating. How you conquered Voldemort as a little baby, and how you conquered evils at Hogwarts as well. Then Fleur Delacour told me how you had been such a hero at the Triwizard Tournament, and I knew I had to meet you."

"Well, er, thanks," he replied.

"I know how you feel," she said quietly.

With this Harry stopped dead in his tracks and looked in her eyes, astonished that she knew what his gut had told him earlier in the Great Hall.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Well, you're like me with nowhere to go in the summer except back to the dreadful Muggle world. I can tell by just looking at you that you long to stay at school in the summer. I loathed my orphanage and my Muggle parents for not loving me enough to accept me, but that's a different life now. My parents are dead to me," she finished, with a note of bitterness in her voice.

With this remark Harry took in a great deal of breath and let it out slowly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned that. That was so rude of me. I just say things before I think," she said.

"It's okay. I get what you're saying, though," he said looking toward Ron and Hermione walking in together in the distance. "They don't know what it's like to be cut off from the wizarding world that I love so much for weeks at a time. I love them dearly, but they don't get it."

"That's why I had to meet you. I wanted to see if you could relate to me like no one else could," she said softly.

"Well, you can always relate to me, Mandy," Harry looked at her and smiled.

She smiled back at him, and they continued walking. As they chatted on about different things, Harry felt like everything bad had slipped away from him, and he had never been so happy.


	10. The Green Flame Torch and the Girl

Harry could never remember having so much fun at Hogsmeade. He showed Mandy around to all his favorite places. She especially loved Honeydukes where she bought some Fizzing Whizbees that she later mentioned she was sending to Madame Maxime because they were her favorite. Ron and Hermione joined them at the Three Broomsticks where they all talked and laughed over butterbeer. As Harry watched Mandy toss her long brown hair as Hermione lectured her earnestly about the importance of S.P.E.W., Mandy caught his eye and smiled at him. He rolled his eyes at Hermione and smiled back. He knew he had not had such a good day since he had lost Sirius. They were still enjoying their conservation when Ron, who was facing the pub's door, stood up abruptly and knocked over his chair.

"Percy!" Ron exclaimed, and Harry quickly turned to look at the door.

Percy Weasley was indeed walking through the door with none other than Cornelius Fudge. Percy and Fudge headed straight to their table.

"Hullo, little brother," Percy said, patting Ron on the back. "Hullo, Hermione, Harry, and . . . "

"Oh, sorry," Ron said, getting over his disbelief. "This is Amanda Mallason. Mandy, this is my older brother Percy and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Mandy just transferred from Beauxbatons."

Mandy stood up and shook Percy and Fudge's hand.

"It's very nice to meet you both," she said politely.

Harry didn't say anything. He hadn't liked Fudge since last year with good reason. Also, the dream he had a few weeks ago was still unsettling him, and Harry just didn't trust Fudge. Then Fudge looked right into Harry's eyes and blew him out of the water with his next statement.

"Harry, I would like to personally apologize for my actions last year. I was very rude to you, and I'd hope that you could forgive an old man for his mistakes."

Everyone at the table had gone quiet, never expecting Fudge to apologize to Harry face to face. Ron sat with a stunned expression on his face, and Hermione scratched her mane of bushy hair. Mandy simply looked from Fudge to Harry not having known what happened last year.

"Er," Harry stammered, at a complete loss for words. "It's no big deal."

Harry suddenly became fascinated with his mug of butterbeer.

"Oh, that's good then!" Percy said loudly. "Now everything's okay between everyone now."

Harry had a very strong feeling Percy was feeling a little extra guilty for the long estrangement with his family.

"What are you doing in Hogsmeade, Percy?" Ron asked the question everyone wanted to know the answer to.

"Oh, Cornelius had some business with Dumbledore at the school, and we were hoping to meet Harry here on our way out," Percy said.

Fudge whispered in Percy's ear and pointed at his very expensive looking watch.

"Well, the Minister and I have some appointments in London we must attend. Nice to have met you, Amanda. See you soon, little brother," Percy said.

"Good-bye, everyone," Fudge said, and with one last look at Harry, he turned and left.

"What in the bloody hell was that about?" Ron said, looking at Harry.

"No," Mandy said. "The question is what in the bloody hell happened last year because I am completely lost."

Hermione turned to Mandy and launched into the story of Fudge and Umbridge, and Harry leaned into to talk to Ron.

"Percy sure was, er, enthusiastic," Harry said.

"He's been like that," Ron said. "Mum said he's at the Burrow a lot trying to help. He bought Ginny a new broomstick and bought about a thousand Galleons worth of stuff at Fred and George's shop. He is making an effort to make things better, but he was quite the git last year."

"Percy didn't surprise me that much, but Fudge sure did," Harry said.

"Yeah, that was weird," Ron agreed. "At least he apologized. You deserved it."

"Well, I still don't trust him," Harry said.

Ron nodded, and Harry leaned back as Hermione was finishing up the summary of their fifth year.

"This Umbridge woman sounds foul," said Mandy, her pretty face breaking into a scowl. "I can understand why she didn't come to Beauxbatons. She was obviously scared of Madame Maxime, since she is a half-breed. But I can tell you if she had, she would have been in danger of me."

Harry nodded in agreement knowing that Mandy's love for her "adopted mother" Madame Maxime was equal to his love for Hagrid.

"She was horrible," Hermione said. "Her dislike of half-breeds was ridiculous. She said they were dangerous, but I read in _Half-Breeds and Beyond _that a large majority are completely docile."

"We don't need books to tell us they're usually not dangerous, Hermione," Harry said, pointedly.

"I know," Hermione said. "Hagrid is wonderful."

"Madame Maxime is quite kindhearted," Mandy interjected. "Yet, she can have her moments."

Mandy smiled, and Harry understood. He had seen Hagrid's temper mount beyond control, but Harry knew Hagrid couldn't hurt a pixie.

"Anyway," Ron said. "Who wants to go toDervish and Banges?"

"What's that?" Mandy asked.

"Let's just show you," Harry said, and they all quickly downed their butterbeer.

Mandy loved Dervish and Banges, and afterward they all walked down the road a bit to enjoy one of the last nice days before winter.

"We've got to take her to the Shrieking Shack," Ron said. "We have to show her where Malfoy got a face full of mud when you were under the Invisibility Cloak!"

"You have an Invisibility Cloak," she asked, her green eyes widening in astonishment. "Those are really rare!"

Harry nodded and smiled proudly. Ron then launched into the story of Professor Lupin and the Whomping Willow.

"I've missed so much," Many said regretfully as Ron finished. "I wish I could have joined you on all your adventures."

"They're not all glamorous and exciting as they sound," Harry said, looking off down the road.

He remembered during their fourth year when they brought food for Sirius right over on that rocky hill.

"Oh, I'm sorry-," Mandy began, but Harry put a hand up to stop her.

He took a few steps so he could see better. He could have bet his Firebolt he had just seen a green light right by the rocks.

"What is it, mate?" Ron asked, now looking with Harry.

All of them instinctively reached for their wands.

"I just saw some kind of green light," Harry said, walking steadily down the dirt path toward the base of the hill.

"Like the Avada Kedavra light?" Hermione asked.

"Not quite . . . " Harry trailed off, as he thought about what she'd said.

This light hadn't been as harsh or as menacing as the killing curse. It was softer, but still very eerie. They had reached the base of the hill, and Harry began to search around it. The other three followed him looking very concerned. Harry put his hand on the cool gray rock as he walked the length of the small mountain. He stopped when he reached a very narrow entrance into the center of the hill. It could only fit two people shoulder-to-shoulder, and it was pitch black.

"What is this?" Mandy asked.

"I have no idea, but I intend to find out," Harry said.

He saw Ron and Hermione share a nervous glance. They gathered themselves up and walked into the passageway. Harry and Ron went first to protect the girls.

"_Lumos!_" all four of them muttered.

It was far beyond second nature for them by now. They walked, not saying anything for about ten minutes, and then the path started to widen ever so slightly. Harry then saw the soft green light in the distance.

"Can everyone see that?" he asked.

There had been plenty of times before when he could see things his best friends could not.

"Yes, mate. We see it," Ron said nervously.

"I might sound stupid," Hermione said. "But I don't get a bad feeling from it."

"Me, neither," Mandy said. "But that doesn't mean we should be off our guard. For all we knew, it could be making us feel that way on purpose."

They continued to walk toward the eerily, beautiful light. Harry could now make out that the light was coming from a torch stuck into the hard, dirt floor. Harry's stomach dropped as he recognized as the Green Flame Torch from his dreams. They all stopped about five feet from it, and Harry could see a small person was standing beside it, not moving. It was the young redheaded girl from his dreams that he couldn't recognize. Harry's heart leapt at the thought of finding out who she was, but he wasn't about to go any closer.

"Hullo," Harry said loudly.

The torch flickered in response. They all looked at each other nervously because there was no wind in the passageway.

"Will you answer our questions?" Hermione called out.

The torch flickered once.

"Once for yes, and twice for no," Mandy said, clenching Harry's arm from behind.

The torch flickered once more.

"Did you summon us here to tell us something?" Hermione asked.

It flickered once.

"Did you come from Hogwarts?" Ron asked.

It flickered twice.

"Is someone in danger?" Harry asked and raised his wand light to try and see the girl.

It flickered once. They were silent for a moment absorbing the information, and they were all scared to ask who.

"Is the girl standing next to you controlling you?" Harry asked instead.

It flickered once.

"Do I know this girl, and can I see her properly, please?" Harry said becoming increasingly agitated in his lack of answers.

The torch flickered once, and then they were plunged into complete darkness.

"Maybe she's shy," Ron said, chucking nervously.

"_Shut-up!_" Harry hissed listening closely.

All of a sudden, the air was filled with an earsplitting wail, and they all put their hands over their ears. And then as suddenly as it began, it stopped. They all took their hands away from their heads, but were immediately blasted by a wind so strong, they had to clasp their wands tightly in their hands.

"What the hell is going on!" Ron shouted desperately over the roaring wind.

Before anyone could answer the green light flashed brightly once more, and Harry was the only one looking at the place where it had stood moments before. He finally saw the girl clearly. She was about eleven or twelve and wore Hogwarts robes. She had sleek red hair which didn't move in the howling wind, and then Harry saw her eyes. He knew those eyes, and they were looking at him urgently as if she wanted to tell him something important. And then the torch's green light went out, and the wind stopped.

"_Lumos!_" Mandy said, her voice shaking badly.

They all faced Harry who leaned against the rock completely stunned.

"I saw her," Harry said in a voice that did not sound like his own.

"Did you recognize her?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Harry replied slowly. "It was my mother."

"Well," Ron said, turning to Mandy. "How do you like being part of our adventures?"


	11. Information and Interruptions

Harry and the others ran as quickly as they could back through Hogsmeade and to the castle. Harry knew he had to get some answers from Dumbledore right away. They all skidded to a halt in front of the stone gargoyle that blocked intruders from the headmaster's office.

"Do you all want to come with me?" Harry asked his friends.

"Absolutely, mate," Ron said. "We want to know as much as you do!"

"Alright, then," Harry replied.

He faced the gargoyle and opened his mouth to unleash a string of all the sweets he knew. Before he could utter a word, the gargoyle leapt to the side and two figures descended the great spiraling staircase. One was Dumbledore and the other was a man Harry had never met before. He had a very distinguished mane of salt and pepper hair and a mustache to match. His crystal blue eyes sparkled with energy, and he was dressed in ruby red robes.

"Oh, hullo, Harry," Dumbledore said as he spotted them. "Hullo, Ron, Hermione, and ah, Mrs. Mallason."

"Professor Dumbledore, please call me Mandy," Mandy said, grinning.

"As you wish, Mandy," Dumbledore replied, bowing his head slightly. "Harry, I would like to introduce you to Professor McAllister. You will start lessons with him this Tuesday at seven."

"Hullo, Harry," Professor McAllister said, shaking Harry's hand. "Dumbledore has told me great things about you."

"Thank you," Harry responded, studying his new teacher.

"Did you need something?" Dumbledore asked.

"Um, yes, sir. It's urgent," Harry said, not wanting to talk about the ghostly image of his mother appearing to him in Hogsmeade in front of a complete stranger.

He then realized that he had only met Mandy this very morning. It was different with her, though. He felt like he had known her all his life.

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "Marlin, I'll see you Tuesday, then."

"Yes. It was nice to meet you all," Professor McAllister said and walked off down the corridor.

"Now what is so urgent that you skipped half of your Hogsmeade visit for?" Dumbledore asked.

"Can we discuss this in your office, sir?" Harry said, looking around, not wanting to be overheard by anyone he didn't trust.

"Certainly," Dumbledore said, and they all followed him up the staircase.

As they entered his office, Harry noticed the paintings snoozing in their frames. Phineas opened one eye, but quickly closed it as Harry glanced his way. Dumbledore waved his wand his wand and four squashy armchairs appeared in front of his desk.

"Now, what is so important," Dumbledore said kindly as he settled into his own chair.

"We wanted to talk to you about the green flame torch," Harry began.

"Ah, of course," Dumbledore said as he leaned back. "I wanted to speak to you about that as well. I was about to before you came to school, but we were interrupted."

"Um, do you know what it is?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I do, but why don't you tell me what you know first, and we'll go from there," Dumbledore said.

Harry told him about his two dreams and about what happened in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore's eyes narrowed at the mention of the torch in Hogsmeade, but he didn't interrupt. Ron and Hermione threw him a glance when he told the headmaster about the second dream. He had forgotten that he had never told them about the dream with Fudge in it. Mandy just listened intently trying desperately to catch up.

"Interesting," Dumbledore said as Harry finished. "I have a lot to tell you. Is it okay to tell your friends? It might be quite personal."

Harry nodded. He trusted his friends completely, and he knew without a doubt he could trust Mandy.

"The green flame torch was made by the famous dark wizard, Grindelwald-," Dumbledore began.

"You defeated him, didn't you?" Ron interjected as Hermione shot him a look to kill for interrupting the headmaster. "That's what it says on the Chocolate Frog Cards, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said, smiling. "He was a great wizard. He was powerful, maybe even more powerful than Voldemort. I defeated him, with the help of many others, in 1945."

"What did he make the torch for, sir?" Mandy asked.

"He made the torch to purge the world of Muggles and Muggle-born wizards. Thankfully, he was brought down before he could use it. Yet, when he was defeated, he took the secret of how to control it with him. We wanted to know how to use this powerful object for good instead of evil," Dumbledore explained.

"But why does Harry keep having dreams about it, sir?" Hermione asked.

"Well, the torch was stationed in the dark forest for reasons unknown to me, and a certain witch stumbled upon it's story. Lily Evans, who was, like Miss Granger here, one of the most clever witches of her time, worked tirelessly on how to use this torch for good," Dumbledore said as Hermione blushed the color of Ron's hair. "She could feel, like many others, that Voldemort was rising. Granted, she didn't know it was Voldemort, but we could all feel a very powerful dark magic on the rise. She finally found out how to control the torch but was discovered by Bellatrix Lestrange."

Harry gripped the sides of his armchair very tightly. That name made him want to punch a huge hole in the wall. Bellatrix had caused as much destruction and death as Voldemort.

"Well," Dumbledore continued. "The Minister of Magic was notified and ordered the torch to be moved immediately. No one believed that young Miss Evans could control the torch. We were in the process of using the torch against Voldemort sixteen years ago, but Lily and James tragically passed away. The torch is now held at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries behind a door that remains locked at all times."

Something stirred in Harry's memory. Something Dumbledore had once told him about that locked door. He remembered sitting in this office after Sirius had died, and Dumbledore telling him about a power that only he had that would enable him to defeat Voldemort, and it was behind that locked door in the Department of Mysteries.

Dumbledore looked at Harry pointedly and continued, "Trained wizards have tried to gain control of it, but they don't know that the power to control it was passed to you, Harry."

Hermione let a little gasp, and Ron and Mandy just stared at Harry with their eyes wide.

"My mother left the power to control the torch to me," Harry said, still trying to absorb what he'd heard. "How?"

"I'm guessing the one who controls the torch just passes the power and knowledge down through their generations," Dumbledore said. "You have the power, Harry, but I'm afraid the knowledge is lost. There is an incantation you must use to ignite the torch, but Lily never told anyone. She didn't want them to be hurt for the information."

Suddenly, the letter that Sirius had given him in his will popped into his head.

"_You have the power to beat Lord Voldemort, but you must also gain the knowledge." _

Harry just sat there lost in thought. There was an awkward silence, and then Mandy piped up with another question.

"What was Harry's mother going to control the torch with, sir?" she asked.

"Lily manifested all the good things in the world, love happiness, trust, and fed them through the torch with the incantation that was lost," Dumbledore answered.

"Why did my mother appear to me in Hogsmeade?" Harry asked, coming out of his stupor.

"I know the torch will let a shadow appear of the last person to control it. I know this because Grindelwald once appeared to me through it," Dumbledore said, suddenly very solemn. "Why the torch was in Hogsmeade, and why you are dreaming about it, I couldn't say."

"Do you think Vol-Voldemort is trying to bait Harry again?" Ron asked.

"I believe that is most likely," Dumbledore said, sighing. "Yet these dream are real past memories, not Voldemort's present thoughts. I'm as lost as you all are on that topic, but I will find out what is going on, and I hope I won't see any missions to the Ministry to get behind the door I told you about. There is only one way to get in, and I cannot tell you that."

"I won't let Voldemort bait me again, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said, staring straight into his headmaster's eyes.

He felt no urge to bite him like he did last year, and that relieved him. He wondered if the days of feeling Voldemort's moods were over. They all rose to leave, feeling the conversation was finished. As his friends went through the door, Harry turned back.

"Sir, I'm not really feeling Voldemort's moods anymore. Is that good?" he asked.

"I think so, Harry," Dumbledore replied. "Voldemort must know we are teaching you Occlumency, and he fears you might get into his thoughts and see his plans. While he wants to know what is going on with you, he will not risk having the Order know what he is up to."

Harry nodded, but hesitated again.

"Thank you for telling me all of that, sir. It's really important that I know about it," Harry said, greatly appreciating Dumbledore right now.

Dumbledore looked at him with a sadness creeping in his eyes.

"Your Occlumency lessons could not start soon enough. Practice hard, Harry, and the information you received today will not be all you learn," Dumbledore said mysteriously.

Harry nodded once and walked out the door.

The weekend passed quickly and the warm temperatures they had enjoyed at Hogsmeade fell dramatically. Winter was upon them, and the chill of snow lingered in the air. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Mandy spent most of the weekend in a corner of the common room discussing what Dumbledore told them in low tones. Harry had filled Mandy in on Sirius and the prophecy. He knew she wouldn't betray him. In fact, he felt he could tell her anything. They were growing close quickly, and he valued her as a friend almost as much as Ron and Hermione. Tuesday arrived before he knew it, and after a quick dinner in the Great Hall, he headed to the Transfiguration classroom. He had gotten a note earlier this morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts to go there for his lesson. Harry was happy to find out that Mandy was in his Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Charms classes. Gloria had been teaching them a very strong shield charm. Someone's spell must have shot toward the door because little Dennis Creevey couldn't get through to give Harry his note. Harry laughed to himself as he walked through the entrance hall thinking of Ron trying to pull Dennis through the door frame. All of a sudden, Nearly Headless Nick floated out of the wall to his left.

"Hullo, Nick!" Harry said brightly.

Nearly Headless Nick was the Gryffindor house ghost. He was called nearly headless because his executioners hadn't done their job properly and had left about half an inch of skin on Nick's neck.

"Hullo, Harry," Nick replied. "How are you?"

"Good. Just headed up to the common room," Harry said, hating to lie, but he wasn't about to get into a conversation with Nick about Occlumency.

Besides he was almost late.

"Oh, well, did you hear about the Headless Hunt?" Nick asked, floating closer to Harry.

"Um, no," Harry said, not really having the time to get into a conversation about that either.

"Well, that arrogant ghost, Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, has retired as the president of the Headless Hunt. Well, the new head says he might let me join," Nick finished, obviously very proud of himself.

"Well, congratulations, Nick," Harry said as he inched his way down the hall. "I've got homework to do, so I'll see you around."

Nick waved goodbye as Harry set off at a fast pace down the hall.

He was five feet from the Transfiguration classroom when he heard, "Dobby is so glad to get to see Harry Potter again."

Harry whipped around and saw Dobby, the house-elf staring up at him.

"Hullo, Dobby," Harry said, glad to see him, but desperately not wanting to be late for his first lesson with Professor McAllister.

Dobby was wearing the same tea cozy for a hat, a brown and pink striped vest, a pair of black pants, and a pair of socks that Harry recognized as Uncle Vernon's, which he had given to Dobby two years ago for Christmas.

"Dobby just wanted to see Harry Potter and tell him hello. Dobby considers Harry Potter his very good friend," the house-elf said in his squeaky voice.

"You are one of my very good friends, Dobby, but I'm late for a meeting, so can you come see me later," Harry said, looking at his watch.

"Oh, yes, Harry Potter, sir. It would be my honor," Dobby said, and with a whip-like crack he was gone.

Harry finally turned and opened the door to the Transfiguration classroom. Professor McAllister was standing near the window. He turned and smiled brightly as Harry walked up.

"Well, hullo, Harry!" he said, his blue eyes sparkling.

He wore ocean blue robes that billowed like the waves as he shook Harry's hand vigorously. Harry liked him instantly. Someone this happy and energetic couldn't be all that bad. It had been completely different with his last Occlumency professor. At least Professor McAllister didn't cringe at the sight of him.

"I have been looking forward to this," his new professor said warmly. "Dumbledore has told me about your previous lessons, and I believe we will go a different route."

"That would be appreciated, Professor McAllister," Harry said, grinning.

"Oh, Harry, please call me Professor Mac. McAllister is such a mouthful. Very well, then. Shall we begin?"

Harry nodded and cleared his mind of all emotion. He tried to make a blank canvas, so that Professor Mac could see nothing of his thoughts.

"One, two, three. _Legilimens!_" Professor Mac said, and Harry felt his power break into his train of thought.

He saw the first time he had laid eyes on Mandy, and he pushed hard with his mind to block Professor Mac. He felt his body become tense, and he knew he had done something, but his mind was too hazy to tell what he'd done. When his head cleared, he saw Professor Mac had stumbled and was bracing himself against McGonagall's desk.

"Well, Harry, I certainly underestimated you. I have to admit I was not prepared for what you could do. Professor Snape obviously taught you something useful," Professor Mac said, standing upright again.

"Yeah, he taught me to hate and mistrust any greasy-haired, big nosed potion instructors," Harry mumbled.

"What was that, Harry?" Professor Mac said.

"Nothing," Harry replied quickly.

"This time I'm going to be at my full alert. I wasn't trying very hard last time because I was under the impression that you hadn't advanced at all," Professor Mac said, rummaging through his bag for something.

"I haven't," Harry said sullenly. "I never practice, and I'm still having weird dreams that I just want to block out."

He wanted desperately to dream and see his mother's past, but there would be no way that Voldemort was going to trick him again.

"Harry, you'd be surprised at how advanced you are for your age," Professor Mac said, finally finding what he was searching for in his bag.

As he pulled the object out, Harry saw it was a smaller version of Dumbledore's pensieve.

"You are so advanced that I'm not going to hold anything back. That is why I'm going to let you have this and put some of your more personal memories that you don't want me to see in here. I might be breaking far into your minds and vice versa, and my thoughts are over in that other pensieve," Professor Mac said, motioning to the larger pensieve on the windowsill.

Harry took the small bowl in both hands and set it on one of the desk's in front of him. He pulled out his wand and stared first at the bowl and then at Professor Mac.

"Just think extra hard on the thoughts you want to extract. Pick out details and words, and then place your wand to your temple and pull slowly," Professor Mac explained.

Harry thought hard. The first memory was of Sirius falling through the veil. Even though he didn't want to, he thought of every aspect. Bellatrix laughing as his godfather fell slowly through the stone archway. Lupin's weathered hands holding him back as he tried in vain to catch the only father-figure he'd ever known. He put his wand to his temple, and pulled out a strand of silvery substance. He repeated this process five more times as he extracted the memories of Cedric's death, Voldemort's complete possession of him, the first time he saw Mandy, his mother appearing to him in Hogsmeade, and his dreams about the torch. Professor Mac stared at Harry with a look of concern on his face.

"You've been through a lot. Haven't you, Harry?" Professor Mac said, suddenly very serious.

"Yes, I have, sir," Harry said, straightening up and looking his new teacher in the eye. "That's why I'm here. This is the key to helping me stop these things from happening to me. I'm here so I can beat him."

Professor Mac looked at Harry with understanding and a sort of grim respect.

"Alright then," Professor Mac said slowly. "Let's begin."  



	12. Aunt Petunia's Letter

October was like a blur to Harry. He had no idea how he got through his classes with Quidditch practices, lessons with Professor Mac, and D.A. meetings. The first Quidditch match was against Ravenclaw, and Harry was looking foward to a win. He had a great team, and he really wanted to win the Cup the year he was captain.

"Did Cho make captain?" Ron asked Harry two nights before the match as they sat in the common room doing Snape's homework.

"I think so," Harry answered absentmindedly, as he flipped through his Potion's book for the three uses of grilldon blood. "What is a grilldon, anyway?" Harry said in exasperation as he slammed the book shut.

"It's a cousin creature of the grindylow," Hermione said, looking over the top of her potion's encyclopedia. "While grindylows prey in lakes and rivers, grilldons lurk in swamps and bayous."

"Thank you, Professor Snape," Ron said.

"Oh, come on, Ron. Snape wouldn't be that nice to Harry," Mandy said as she walked up to their table.

She flopped down next to Harry and pulled out her Arithmancy book.

"He might say something like, 'I guess fame prevents one from reading textbooks. Five hundred points from Gryffindor'," Mandy said, and they all laughed at her dead-on Snape impression.

"Remember, Ron, you have Trelawney's homework, also," Hermione chided.

"I can't concentrate on all this work with the match on Saturday," Ron said putting his head in his hands.

Hermione patted his back as she flipped another page in her encyclopedia.

"I'm so excited to see all of you play," Mandy said, her green eyes sparkling.

"It's going to be great," Harry said, but he couldn't deny the butterflies in his stomach.

He hadn't played Quidditch since the beginning of his fifth year.

"You'll do fine," Mandy said softly, putting her hand on his arm.

Harry smiled nervously as the butterflies turned to hippogriffs.

The day of the match dawned sunny but frigid. Harry couldn't remember the weather turning this cold this early in years. He dressed quickly, grabbed his Firebolt, and walked down to breakfast. The Great Hall was decorated for the Halloween feast later that night. Hagrid's gigantic pumpkins were next to the staff table, and magical bats flew above the student's heads. Harry spotted Ron, Hermione, and Mandy at the Gryffindor table and walked over. Ron was staring at his plate as if it were his History of Magic homework. Hermione and Mandy were deep in conversation about Arithmancy.

"Hi, guys," Harry said, as he sat down.

"Hey," the girls responded but kept talking, and Ron didn't say anything at all.

"I'm going to mess up, mate," Ron muttered quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"No, you won't. You've been doing great in practice," Harry said, as he reached for a piece of toast.

Ron had indeed improved from last year, but Harry hoped his confidence would last through the Slytherin's taunts. As if reading Harry's thoughts, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle walked past their table singing yet another version of "Weasley Is Our King." Mandy looked up when she heard them singing and stared at Malfoy with the upmost loathing.

"Did you make that song up all by yourself, Malfoy, or did Twiddle-dumb and Twiddle-idiot over there help you," Mandy said, motioning to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Shut it, orphan," Malfoy sneered. "I know all about you. I know how your parents abandoned you and how you had to stay at some freak orphanage. I can't believe you consider that dangerous half-breed as your mother. What a joke."

Mandy stood up, her hands balled into fists.

"Well, I might have parents who deserted me, but at least they didn't break out of Azkaban and commit murder!" she shouted so loudly that people started staring.

Before Malfoy could say another word, Mandy gathered up her things and stalked off out of the Great Hall. Harry grabbed his Firebolt and walked after her, but he caught a glimpse of Malfoy's face as he passed him. Draco looked like he was struggling to say something, but at the same time, he looked sad because he knew what Mandy said was the truth. Harry couldn't care less if Malfoy was upset. He just wanted to check on Mandy. He found her in the entrance hall leaning against the wall on the right side of the staircase.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said and sighed. "I've just never dealt with anyone quite that blunt. He really is the worst person I've ever met."

"Malfoy isn't big on tact," Harry said. "But you handled him well."

Mandy looked up and gave him a little half-smile, her eyes brimming with tears. One lone tear fell down her cheek, and Harry reached up and brushed it away.

"Don't worry. I"m not going to cry. I'm not going to let him get to me," she said, shaking her head.

"You don't have to be strong all the time, Mandy," Harry said, and as he spoke the word, he knew they were true, even for him.

"I know," she said softly. "Good luck on the match, Harry."

She leaned over and kissed him quickly on the lips and walked away. Harry was frozen to the spot until he heard Ginny call to him as the Gryffindor team came out of the Great Hall.

"Time to go, Harry," Ginny called, and he walked over to them.

He had a huge goofy smile on his face as he walked down to the pitch with his teammates. Ron looked over at him and narrowed his eyes.

"She just kissed you, didn't she?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded and widened his smile.

"Well, I always say a good snog is the best way to start off a Quidditch game, huh!" Ron said, laughing.

"Ron," Hermione called as she ran to catch up them. "Good luck," she said and quickly kissed him on the lips, just as Mandy had done with Harry, and ran off to find a seat.

"Well, mate," Harry said as they entered the dressing room. "Looks like we both got lucky today."

Ron nodded, and he seemed to have adopted Harry's goofy smile. Harry turned his attention to the team (which was difficult), and started his pep talk.

"The Ravenclaw team is good, but we're better. Our team has not been this strong since we won the Quidditch Cup in my third year. Everyone is going to be brilliant. Just stay focused, and I know we can win this match. Are you ready?" he finished, and everyone cheered in response. "Let's go."

They grabbed their broomsticks and walked out onto the pitch. The stadium went into an uproar as they walked up to Madam Hooch.

"Captains, shake hands," she said.

Cho and Harry briefly touched hands. Madam Hooch released the balls. Harry caught a quick streak of gold as the Snitch flew off.

"Mount your brooms. On my whistle, three, two," Madam Hooch blew her whistle sharply and fourteen brooms shot into the air.

"Gryffindor takes possession first," Dean's voice rang through the stadium. "Ginny Weasley, seeker last year for the Gryffindor team, new chaser this year, takes the Quaffle down the field. She dodges everyone with ease. No one can touch her, and SHE SCORES! Ten to zero, Gryffindor. Too bad me and that girl broke up."

"_Dean!_" Harry heard Professor McGonagall scream. "I will not put up with Lee Jordan, Jr."

Harry scanned the field looking for a hint of gold but saw none. Cho was tailing him slightly like she had in previous games, but she kept her distance. He kept both eyes on the field and one ear to the colorful commentary that Dean was providing. Lavender and Ginny scored two more goals, and Ron made a fantastic save.

"And Mark Evans, new beater for the Gryffindor team, batters the Ravenclaw chasers. He is small, but he is _good_," Dean said. "Ravenclaw chasers can barely get past him to score goals. Great find by Captain Harry Potter."

Harry tore his eyes away to watch Mark. He really was phenomenal. He could easily play professionally.

"It's now thirty to nothing, Gryffindor," Dean said. "And look at- oh, wait. I think the Snitch has been spotted!"

Harry turned and saw Cho speeding toward the ground near the Ravenclaw left goal post. Harry flew down as quickly as he could, but did a complete turn around as he saw something tiny and gold zoom past his ear in the opposite direction.

"Cho was feinting!" Dean screamed. "But Harry Potter flies his magnificent Firebolt back around after the real Snitch."

Harry could not remember ever willing his Firebolt to go faster. He stretched his hand out and felt his fingers close around the struggling Snitch. The crowd went wild as Harry held up his arm.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Dean yelled. "They stomp Ravenclaw one hundred and eighty to nothing!"

Harry was engulfed by his teammates as soon as he hit the ground, and every Gryffindor ran out onto the field. Mandy ran up and hugged him. Harry picked her up and twirled her around. Hermione kissed Ron on the cheek, and he pulled her into a bone-breaking hug.

"I knew you could do it," Mandy said over the roaring crowd. "You were great!"

"Only because of you," he whispered in her ear.

Mandy looked into his eyes and the fanatical suddenly seemed very far away.

The Gryffindor's victory party seemed to go on forever. The Halloween feast was filling, but Harry and Ron still snuck down to the kitchens to nick some food from the eager-to-please house elves. Harry looked, but he didn't see Dobby anywhere.

"It's probably his day off," Ron said when Harry expressed his concerns.

Harry shrugged thinking it was odd for a Hogwarts house elf to have a feast day off, and he cast one more glance around the kitchens before him and Ron returned to the common room laden with food. The party lasted well into the night until people gradually started to drag themselves up to bed. Soon the only ones left were the members of the Gryffindor team, Hermione, and Mandy. As Ron mentioned for the fifth time how Cho's feinting so horribly backfired, Harry heard a tapping sound. He turned and saw Hedwig at the window. Harry hurried over and opened the glass, and Hedwig hopped inside.

"She's beautiful," Mandy said, stroking Hedwig's sleek white feathers.

Hedwig hooted softly at the compliment as Harry opened the letter that she had delivered.

_Harry,_

_I don't know why I'm about to tell you this, but I feel as if I owe something to you for saving Dudley's life last summer. You know your Uncle Vernon and I are not fond of you, but you did a good thing last year. Your mother and I had a brother named Desmond. He and Lily were closer than I thought two people could possibly be. He was one of your kind, and went to that school of yours. I believe he graduated the year Lily started. Well, I got a letter from him when you were about five telling me what had happened to him. See, he left after Lily's death, and no one was able to track him down. In his letter, Desmond told me that he wanted to know all about you, and that he had a son. I threw the letter away, not wanting any more of my troublesome relatives in my house. He tried contacting me a few more times, but I never responded. I thought I should let you know you have an uncle and a cousin. If my calculations are right if Desmond's son is one of your kind, he should have started going to school this year. I believe his name is Mark. Please never mention this again, especially to Uncle Vernon. _

_Aunt Petunia_

Harry lifted his head and looked across the room where Mark Evans was talking to Lavender. Ron, Hermione, and Mandy, who had been reading over Harry's shoulder, followed suit. They all stared at him with mouths open in shock until Mark felt their eyes on him.

He turned from Lavender, stared back at them, and said, "What?"


	13. Relatives and Relationships

"What?" Mark said again.

Harry continued staring as if seeing him for the first time. He saw that Mark had his mother's auburn hair, and as Mark smiled nervously at the group that was staring him down as if he were a sack of a thousand Galleons, Harry saw his smile was identical to his mother's.

"Guys, seriously, why are you staring at me like that?" Mark said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair from the weight of four pairs of eyes on him.

"Um, why don't we head up to bed?" Hermione said, finally coming to her senses.

"Why?" Ron said stupidly. "I want to find out-,"

Hermione quickly flicked his shoulder hard, and Ron sprang up from his chair like a cat.

"Right, to bed we go," he said, finally getting the idea.

He faked a huge yawn, and him and Hermione walked up the stairs. Mandy slowly followed them. She stopped and put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Just talk to him," she said quietly.

Harry nodded, but thought that idea was easier said than done.

"Can I speak to you over here, Mark?" Harry said.

"Sure, no problem," he said, and he came and took Ron's seat. "Is this about the Quidditch match because I think I could have done better?"

"No, no, you were fantastic," Harry said quickly. "It's just, er, this is hard."

"What's going on?" Mark said, suddenly looking more scared than nervous.

"I just got this letter from my aunt," Harry said thrusting the piece of paper into Mark's hand.

Mark read the letter, his eyes getting wider with each word. When he'd finished, he slowly gave the letter back to Harry. His face was somewhere between shock and happiness, which was exactly the place Harry was in at the moment. Harry noticed Mark's eyes were a deep mahogany brown. They were nothing like Lily's eyes.

"_He must get that from his dad_," Harry thought, and he smiled for the first time thinking of his uncle.

Maybe he could visit them one day. Judging how nice Mark had been so far, he thought that he would like his Uncle Desmond as much as he liked his son.

"Um, wow. I don't know what to say," Mark said scratching his head. "My dad never mentioned you."

"This is the first I've heard of you, as well," Harry said.

"My dad said I had an aunt that had died before I was born, but he never even spoke of this Petunia woman," Mark aid, a confused look on his young face.

"Well, I don't like to talk about the Dursleys, either," Harry said smiling. "They aren't what you'd call, nice, in any sense of the word."

Mark laughed and some of the tension left his face.

"You seem very well-adjusted," Mark said looking at Harry.

"I've learned to keep my sanity when I have to be around them, unless Dudley's beating me up," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Wait! Dudley? Big D? Do you live in Little Whinging?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, why?" Harry said, wondering how he knew that.

"Well, let's just say you weren't the only one that's been beaten up by Big D and his gang," Mark said. "I live a few streets over from you, and I was the gang's main target last summer."

Harry suddenly remembered part of the conversation he had with Dudley the night of the dementor attack last year.

"_I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago-,"_

"_He was asking for it."_

"_Oh, yeah?"_

"_He cheeked me." _

"He said that you cheeked him. What did you say?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yeah," Mark said and grinned. "I told him I'd never met a pig that could talk before."

They both burst out laughing, and Harry went into the story of the Ton-Tongue Toffee. They talked well into the night laughing and discussing their families. Harry found out that Mark was an only child, his dad worked at the Wireless Wizarding Network's main office recruiting new talent, and that his mom had left them when she found out that Mark was a wizard, too.

"She said she could take my dad, but her little boy was just too much for her," Mark said bitterly. "I haven't talked to her since the day I was four and lit the drapes on fire with a touch of my hand."

Harry explained what happened with his parents and the Dursleys.

"I hate living with them, and I stay here every Christmas. I'd stay here for the summer holidays, but they won't let me," Harry said.

"Well, let me ask my dad, but I bet he'd love to have you over for Christmas," Mark said kindly.

"That would be great!" Harry said, but then he remembered Voldemort and the tragedy that inevitably followed him everywhere. "Um, I might have to check first."

"No worries," Mark said. "Well, I'm going to go to bed, but I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"See you later, Mark," Harry said, and Mark went up the stairs.

Harry sat in the common room alone for a while staring at the smoldering embers of the dying fire. He finally got up and headed up to his dorm room. He climbed into bed, took off his glasses, and drew the curtains. As he fell asleep, he thought it was about time he met a relative he actually liked.

Harry woke up late the next morning. He grabbed Aunt Petunia's letter as he got dressed and walked down to the common room. Ron and Hermione were there playing a game of chess.

"What's up, guys?" Harry asked as he sat down next to Ron.

"I'm getting the pants knocked off me in this chess game. That's what's up," Hermione said testily.

"How did it go last night?" Ron asked.

"It was good," Harry said as Crookshanks jumped into his lap and curled up. "He's a cool guy, and I'm actually happy with Aunt Petunia right now. Though, this doesn't make up for the hell they've put me through."

"True, true," Ron chorused absentmindedly as he stared at the chess board.

"Well, I'm going to go talk to Dumbledore about this," Harry said as he placed Crookshanks on the floor. "Oh, Hermione will you tell people in the D.A. we are going to have a meeting on Wednesday night. I'll do the Galleons, but this is an important meeting, so I want everyone to be there."

"Why is this one so important?" Hermione asked.

"I want to induct Mandy and Mark," Harry said as he stood up.

"That will be great," Hermione said happily, still not taking her eyes off the chess board.

As he climbed through the portrait hole, he heard the sounds of shattering chessman, and an outraged Hermione screaming, "This game is barbaric!"

Harry walked slowly through the castle lost in thought about his new cousin, Mandy, and the Quidditch match. He was so engrossed in the happenings of his life that he ran right into someone. He fell hard to the ground and looked up.

"Merlin's sake, Mister Potter! We have got to stop meeting here!" Gloria said, grabbing his hand and helping him up.

"Sorry, Professor," Harry said.

He looked up and saw that he was in front of the stone gargoyle.

"It's okay, Harry. Why are you inside? I thought you'd be outside with your friends playing in the bright sunlight," she said looking quickly out the window.

"Well, I need to see Professor Dumbledore," Harry said noticing that Gloria was fidgeting a lot.

"Again?" she said suspiciously, narrowing her endlessly dark eyes. "Are you and Albus very close?"

"You could say that," Harry said narrowing his eyes right back at the odd behavior of his teacher.

"Very well. Ton-Tongue Toffee," she said and waved her wand at the statue. "Well, I must be going now. See you in class on Tuesday."

Harry watched her walk away and then climbed the stairs to Dumbledore's office. As he looked down at the railing, he was holding, he noticed there was a small smear of blood on it. He pulled his hand away and saw there was blood on his palm. He hadn't cut himself, but it was the hand Gloria had taken to help him up. He wondered what the mystery was behind his new professor, but that all left his mind as he walked into Dumbledore's office.

"Hullo, Harry," Dumbledore said from his desk. "This is a nice surprise."

"Well, sir, I got a big surprise last night," Harry said as he sank in the armchair Dumbledore had just conjured.

"And what might that be," Dumbledore said looking concerned.

"This," Harry said, sliding the letter across the desk.

Dumbledore read it, hi eyes moving faster as he read each line.

"Did you know about this?" Harry asked.

"No, Harry, I did not," Dumbledore said, giving Harry the letter back. "I was very good friends with your mother's family. I watched your mother grow up, in fact. Her parents were my favorite Muggles. I wish you could have met them. I spent so much time over there that I had a nickname for your mother."

"Little Lee," Harry said automatically.

"Yes. How did you know that?" Dumbledore asked, a soft smile on his lips.

"That dream I had earlier in the year," Harry explained.

"Ah, of course. Well, Desmond was a bright and promising student here at school. Lily and him were as different as night and day, but they were incredibly close. When she and James died, his world was shattered. As soon as he found out, he went to confront the Deatheaters by himself. He was never heard from again, and we assumed he died. I always thought there might be a chance that he was still alive, but I never told you because I didn't want to get your hopes up."

Harry felt a flair of anger at being left in the dark about this, but quickly extinguished it as he remembered Professor Mac's words, "_A man that can control his emotions can control any situation_."

"Mark told me he lives a few streets from the Dursleys," Harry said as he calmed down.

"Really? Well, I guess many a things get past this old man's eyes," Dumbledore said.

"Mark said I might be able to visit for Christmas," Harry said hopefully, looking longingly at his headmaster for permission.

"Let me see, Harry," Dumbledore said. "We don't want to endanger you or anyone else. Let me get in touch with Desmond, and I will let you know."

"Thank you, professor," Harry said, and he got up and left the office much more perturbed than when he had entered it.

The next couple of days past by quickly. Harry was extremely excited to let Mandy and Mark join the D.A. He had filled both of them in on it, and they were ecstatic to join. Tuesday in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry eyed Gloria through the whole class. It was common practice for most of the boys to follow her with their eyes, but Harry was doing it for quite a different reason. Ron noticed and asked him what was up.

"I'll tell you tomorrow at the meeting," Harry said.

At eight on Wednesday, the D.A. met in the Room of Requirement. Mandy and Mark were blown away by the genius of the room, and they walked around examining everything.

"Tonight is important because I want to induct two new members," Harry said as he called the meeting to order. "I believe we can trust them completely, but I think it should be agreed on by the group. This is Mandy Mallason and Mark Evans. They share our goal in defeating Voldemort. They both have my full confidence, so let's vote. All in favor of Mark Evans as a member of the D.A. raise your hands."

Every hand rose in the air. Harry noticed Zacharias Smith was hesitant, probably put off by Mark's hand, but Neville's hand was the first in the air.

"And for Mandy Mallason," Harry said.

Again, all hands rose in the air, but Harry noticed that this time it was Cho's hand that was hesitant.

"_I wonder why_," Harry thought. "It's settled then," he said aloud, and he saw Mandy and Mark were beaming. "First, I would like to talk to everyone about Gloria McGonagall."

Everyone's heads shot up in attention and shock.

"Why? She's great," Ginny spoke up sitting next to Dean Thomas. "Between this club and her classes, V-Voldemort won't stand a chance against us."

"I know. I think she's great, too," Harry said, and then he went into the story of the blood on his hand. "I'm not saying she's a Deatheater, but just watch her closely. If you see anything odd, just report to us about it."

Everyone nodded, and Harry continued.

"I would like to work on strengthening our Patronus Charms tonight."

All the members looked excited, except for Mark.

"Um, Harry, I'm only first year," Mark said nervously.

"Yeah, we noticed," Zacharias Smith said loudly, and Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner laughed.

Harry turned around to say something to them, but Ron beat him to it.

"Shut it, Smith," Ron shot back.

"Don't worry, Mark," Harry said reassuringly. "It is hard, but if I can do it, you can."

"All right," Mark said, not sounding the least bit convinced.

They practiced their Patronus Charms for the rest of the meeting. Mark only produced silver vapor, but Harry assured him it would come to him in time. At nine, Harry called the meeting to a halt. He told the members he would let them know when the next meeting was, and they all slowly left the room. Harry was the last one left as he grabbed the map and his cloak, and as he went for the door, he saw Mandy waiting for him in the shadows.

"I thought you might like someone to walk back to the tower with you," she said smiling sweetly at him.

"That would be great," Harry replied.

"You did wonderfully on your Patronus," Harry said as they walked up a flight of steps.

"Thanks. I like my doe. She's really beautiful and comforting," Mandy said. "It's nice to know I can defend myself against those vile dementors."

"Yeah, I definitely like that Charm the best because it is about all the happy things about a person," Harry said.

As they approached the Fat Lady's portrait, Mandy turned to Harry.

"I just wanted to say that I'm really glad I met you, Harry. I've never been happier being with you, Ron, and Hermione. Hogwarts is exactly where I'm supposed to be."

Harry suddenly got very warm in the face, but there was something he'd been dying to ask Mandy and now was as good a time as any.

"Mandy, I, er, really like you," Harry said, pulling at the collar of his robes as the Fat Lady stared them down.

The Fat Lady made an impatient noise in her throat, and Harry took Mandy by the shoulders and moved her over to a corner. He threw the invisibility cloak around both of them and continued with what he was saying.

"Anyway, I really like you, and I, uh, wanted to know if you'd, you know, bemygirlfriend," Harry said staring at his shoe, knowing he was going to kick himself with that later when she said no.

"Sure, Harry, I really like you, too," Mandy replied a huge grin on her pretty face.

"Really? I could have sworn you were going to say no," Harry said, letting out a great deal of breath.

"Why would I say no to going out with the guy that makes my Patronus as strong as it is?" Mandy said laughing.

"Well, that laugh definitely helps my Patronus, too," Harry said, and as they both laughed under his cloak, Harry kissed her.


	14. Surprises

November passed so quickly, Harry thought it hadn't even happened. He was swamped with D.A. meetings, regular classes, Occlumency lessons, Quidditch practice, and spending time with Mandy. They had become inseparable. It was the first time he didn't stumble and stutter over his words around a girl. He knew he was really falling for her. The first week of December arrived with a whirl of snowstorms and freezing castle corridors. The castle, as always, looked spectacular cloaked in its Christmas decorations. As the trio plus Mandy walked to D.A.D.A, they chatted about the extremely progressing talents of the D.A.

"Did you see Mark's shadow of a Patronus last night?" Hermione asked Harry. "He's really getting good. I've never seen a first year get that far with that charm."

"I know. He's really talented, but why wouldn't he be? He's related to my mum," Harry said, and everyone laughed.

Just as they got to Gloria's classroom, Harry's eye caught something in his peripheral vision in an abandoned classroom.

"I'll catch up with you in a second," Harry told his friends and went to go check it out.

He could have sworn he saw that eerily beautiful light that was the green flame torch. As he walked into the dark classroom, he didn't see much of anything. His eyes adjusted to the little light that filtered through the bottoms of the shades on the large windows. He saw chairs piled on top of desks, some rude word scribbled on the board, which was no doubt Peeves' doing, but no torch and no shadow of his mother. Just as he began to think his mind was playing tricks on him, he saw a thick book laying on the floor. He picked it up, and the title read _The Full Guide on Becoming an Animagus_. Harry flipped the pages of the book, and a scrap of parchment fluttered to the floor. He grabbed it and saw it was written in the same neat handwriting as the mysterious note from the Burrow. This note read:

_Tell no one._

Harry quickly stuffed the note and the book into his bag and took one more sweeping glance around the classroom and thought, "_What are you trying to tell me, Mom_?"

He turned and booked it to class.

Later that night he told his friends he was going to bed and went to his dorm. He quickly pulled the curtains around his bed and pulled the book from his bag.

"_Lumos!_" he whispered and light erupted from the tip of his wand.

He had followed the note's instructions and had not told anyone. He didn't want to mess anything up. He opened the monstrously thick book and began reading. He skimmed over the introduction and the first chapter, which was the importance of registering your animagus. He slowed down midway through the second chapter and what he read fascinated him.

_An animagus is the primitive animal form of ourselves. What is inside you will be portrayed in the most accurate light. Your animagus is all of the important aspects of your soul combined into the most appropriate animal. This transformation should not be taken lightly and performed with the upmost care._

"_Well, Sirius and my dad certainly didn't read this book_," Harry thought, a little awed by the power of the words.

He closed the book thinking he would learn to transform another night. Those few words had given him enough to think about.

"_If no one knows my animagus, it will be a huge advantage to beating Voldemort_," Harry thought, and it all suddenly became more serious.

He would not tell a soul. He couldn't imagine one of his friends being tortured for that piece of information. He wasn't even going to tell Dumbledore. He heard someone fall outside the door, and then he heard Ron's voice.

"Neville, are you okay?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I just slipped," Neville replied.

"_Nox!_" Harry whispered and laid down to sleep.

The next Hogsmeade trip was scheduled for the Friday before Christmas break. Harry didn't really want to go. As Harry and Hermione sat in Potions the Monday before the trip, he told her so.

"Why don't you want to go?" she asked as she put the lacewig flies in her Polyjuice Potion.

Snape had lectured endlessly on the importance of the Polyjuice Potion, so they had just started brewing it two weeks before. From his own experience, Harry knew it would be ready when they got back from the holiday. Harry rubbed his hands together to keep them warm. It was exceptionally cold in the dungeons, even with the hot fires under the cauldrons, and Harry cursed Ron silently for not having to take this class anymore.

"I just don't feel like it," Harry said shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay, then. What are you getting Mandy for Christmas?" Hermione asked as she stirred the potion to a simmer.

"You are just full of questions- oh, bloody hell!" Harry exclaimed as he dropped too many lacewig flies in his own potion.

"No cursing in my class, Potter," Snape said sweeping down on him like a bird of prey. "Ten points from Gryffindor, and next time, it will be detention."

"I _loathe_ him," Harry hissed, suddenly remembering the placid, nonchalant look on his potion's instructors face when he had begged for his help when Umbridge had them cornered.

Hermione made a "tut" noise and sat down on a stool next to her cauldron.

"You have to control your emotions," Hermione said. "How-,"

"I have!" Harry insisted, raising his voice a little.

Hermione cocked an eyebrow as if saying I told you so, and Harry sat down next to her in frustration, stirring his potion absentmindedly.

"What I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted was how are lessons with Professor MacAllister going?' she asked.

"They're good. We have a make up lesson tonight because he was out last Tuesday."

"What lessons, Potter?" Draco asked arrogantly.

"It's the lessons where you learn not to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. Would you like to join, Malfoy? You obviously need practice?" Harry shot back.

"Well, then keep your voice down, scarhead. Everyone can hear you, even the people on the_ moon_," Draco said, his eyes flaring in the pleasure of knowing something Harry did not.

Hermione quickly looked at Harry, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Is your potion done, Potter?" Snape demanded, interrupting Harry and Malfoy.

"Almost, sir," Harry said through clenched teeth, throwing a glance at Draco who was looking quite pleased with himself.

"Class dismissed," Snape said looking down his hooked nose at Harry in disdain, and everyone began cleaning up.

As Hermione held back to help Harry clean up his mess, Draco met Crabbe and Goyle outside the classroom. Harry was pleased to see that they hadn't been able to advance in any of their classes. Suddenly, Draco let out a long howl, and the Slytherins walked away laughing.

"Do you think he's talking about Lupin?" Hermione asked him.

"Yes," Harry said swinging his bag over his shoulder and exiting the dungeon.

"Do you think we should take some sort of action?" Hermione asked as she hurried along side of him.

Harry realized that he was walking very fast out of anger, and he slowed down.

"I don't know what to do," Harry said honestly. "We've bothered Dumbledore enough this year, and we don't really have a lot to go on. Draco and I fighting will seem trivial to him."

"It won't be trivial if something happens to Lupin, Harry," she said as they stopped at the hallway that let to her Arithmancy class.

"Thanks, Miss Sunshine," Harry said sarcastically, his temper flaring.

"I'm just say-,"

"I know. I'll do something," Harry said, getting impatient in worry.

His head hurt from all the questions that raked his brain. Was it that important? Should he tell anyone? Should he somehow check on Lupin himself? Should he do nothing? Hermione looked at him in earnest, and Harry sighed.

"I might code a letter, but let me think for a while, okay. Besides, it's probably not any immediate danger," Harry muttered, his voice wavering in uncertainty.

"Okay, Harry," Hermione said slowly and walked up the hallway.

"Hermione!" Harry called out, and she turned around. "When is the full moon?"

"Next Tuesday," she said and walked into her class.

Harry walked toward the owlery trying to figure out a way to code a letter. He thought this was the only way not to sound too worried and just check up on things. He reached the owlery where most of the messenger birds were sleeping. He pulled a piece of parchment and quill from his bag and began to write.

_Dear Moony,_

_How are things where you are? Things aren't so good here. I'm having lighting problems everywhere, but that is probably due to the fact that my mother did, too. Our little friend that knows Kreacher seems to be no where in sight, and a certain "friend" has made some comments about you. Just wanted to update you on things here, and check on everyone. Write back soon._

_ Harry _

Harry reread the letter and thought it was confusing, but he had no other ideas on how to word it. He called Hedwig down and attached the letter to her leg.

"Take this to Lupin, and be careful," Harry said stroking her brilliant white feathers.

She nipped his finger in understanding and took off out the window. Harry thought long and hard as he watched Hedwig soar over the Forbidden Forest. If he lost Lupin, he feared he would give up. Lupin was the last link to his parents, and with Sirius gone, Harry could not fathom what he would do without the last of the real Marauders.

Harry met with Professor Mac in the Transfiguration classroom at seven. Harry emptied his thoughts into his mini-pensieve, and they practiced for a half hour. After the third time Professor Mac had broken into Harry's mind, he stopped.

"Are you all right today, Harry?" he asked, a look of genuine concern in his crystal blue eyes.

"I've had a lot on my mind," Harry said slumping into McGonagall's desk chair.

Professor Mac gazed at Harry intensely as if trying to find something inside the young man sitting in front of him.

"I want to try something new with you tonight. Now, Dumbledore told me only to do this when you're ready, and I think you are. Would you like to try Legilimency?" Professor Mac asked him.

Harry was stunned for a moment, and then smiled.

"Of course!" he answered.

"Okay," Professor Mac said. "What I want you to do is clear your head like normal, then say the spell, and push with your mind."

"All right," Harry said, feeling excited and nervous simultaneously.

"I'm ready when you are, Harry," his professor said standing up straight suddenly looking very tall and formidable.

Harry cleared his mind of all thoughts.

"_Legilimens!_" Harry shouted and pushed hard with his mind.

Harry saw a flash of what he thought was a younger Professor Mac talking to a pretty dark haired witch at what looked like a wizarding school, but it wasn't Hogwarts. After that he blacked out.

"Harry!" he heard Professor Mac call. "Wake up. Are you all right?"

Harry opened his eyes and sat up slowly. He felt dizzy and very sick to his stomach.

"I'm fine. Just a little queasy," he answered.

"You gave me quite a fright, Harry, but you did fantastic! I've never seen anyone your age get it on the first attempt. You are an exceptionally talented wizard." Professor Mac said helping him off the floor. "That's all for tonight. You can go."

Harry walked at a snail's pace back to Gryffindor tower. He passed his friends in the common room, told them he was tired, and went to the dorms. He was dreaming before his head hit the pillow.

"So he's found him," a cold blast of a voice spoke.

"Yes, my Lord," an equally cold and calculating voice answered.

"Good. I knew Potter had more information we needed," the voice of Lord Voldemort said.

"Yes, the target will easily be taken care of," the other voice responded, which belonged to Lucicus Malfoy.

On the last day of classes, Harry told Mandy to meet him in the Room of Requirement at eight that night.

"Why?" she said, arching one graceful eyebrow in suspicion.

"You'll see," Harry said mysteriously.

They met as planned, and Mandy approached him with her two hands placed firmly on her hips.

"What are you hiding, Harry Potter?" she said a smile tugging at her lips.

"This," Harry said simply and opened the door that had appeared in front of them.

Inside was a warm, crackling fireplace with a very comfortable blue love seat in front of it. Shelves lined the back of the room with candles and assorted poetry books set on them. Soft music played from somewhere in the background. The room had become considerably smaller than when they met for D.A. meetings, and there was now a window with the snow tapping softly on it.

"Oh, Harry, this is wonderful!" Mandy cried in delight.

They walked in and sank onto the love seat.

"I wanted to do something special for you for Christmas," Harry said.

"It's wonderful," Mandy breathed looking around. "I thought tonight might be the night we exchanged presents, so I brought yours."

She took a small box from her robes and handed it to him. Harry unwrapped it and pulled out a small version of a stag. It was silver and as he held it in his open palm, it pawed the ground with its miniature hooves and flung its antlers back proudly.

"Thank you," Harry said not capable of saying much else.

"I thought you might like it because of your patronus," Mandy said eyeing him to see if he really liked it.

He caught her looking at him, and smiled.

"I love it," he said and pulled out a small gift of his own for her.

"This is for you," he said, and she took the box.

In it was a small, gold necklace with an emerald the same shade as her eyes, and it was roughly the size of a dime.

"Oh, Harry, it's beautiful! I love it, but it must have cost you a fortune," Mandy said.

"Don't worry about that," Harry said, relieved that she liked it. "As long as it makes you smile like that, it's worth it."

She hugged him, and then Harry said the words he had brought her here to say.

"I love you, Amanda," he said, and for the first time in his entire life, he felt like he had said the right thing to a girl.

"I love you, too, Harry," she said, tears misting her eyes.

He kissed her and then, like normal, something went wrong. The door burst open, and Dobby scurried in. Dobby immediately flung himself at Harry's feet, and Harry and Mandy broke away from each other.

"Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby said in his squeaky voice. "You must come to Professor Dumbledore's office quick, sir. Something has happened."

"What's going on, Dobby?" Harry said jumping to his feet. "Where have you been?"

"Dobby's been helping Professor Dumbledore, sir, but you must come quick, sir," Dobby said starting to pull on Harry's hand, his overlarge green eyes wide in urgency.

"Okay, I'm coming," Harry said and turned back to Mandy. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Go, but write me over break and tell me what happened," she said looking concerned.

He kissed her cheek and hurried out of the room after Dobby with the tiny silver stag still clutched in his hand. They reached the stone gargoyle in record time and came to a halt. Harry's mind raced with thoughts of Lupin. He should have done more. He should have told Dumbledore.

"Dobby must go, sir. Professor Dumbledore will be needing Dobby," the house elf said as the stone gargoyle sprang to the side, and Harry heard people descending from the office above. Dobby disappeared with a crack, and as Harry stared at the now empty spot, he saw someone hurrying up the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" Harry said, extremely confused.

Before they could speak, Harry heard the elder Professor McGonagall's tight voice.

"How many people is this poor boy going to lose?"


	15. A Wizard's Funeral

Harry stood stone-faced before the entrance to his headmaster's office. His heart dropped into his stomach, and his breathing speed up dramatically. Scenes between himself and Lupin flashed in his head: Lupin giving him the picture book, Lupin teaching him to tackle the dementors, and Lupin holding him back as Sirius gracefully fell through the veil. McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Professor Mac descended the stairs and stopped abruptly as they saw Harry.

"Ah, Harry. I see Dobby has followed my instructions to get you," Dumbledore said his voice slightly hollowed. "And Mark, I need to speak to you both privately."

Harry had forgotten about Mark coming up the hall in his thoughts of Remus.

"What's going on?" Harry demanded feeling extremely sick at the answer he would get, but he had to hear the words himself for it to be true.

"I'm going to go, Albus," Professor Mac said softly and turned to leave.

"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded again his temper rapidly escalating at being ignored.

"I was informing Professor Dumbledore on how well you did the other night," Professor Mac responded, but Harry could tell he was lying.

"Are you part of the Or-," Harry tried to ask, but he was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"The answer to your question, Harry, is yes, but young ears should not be made to hear about such serious matters," the headmaster said firmly lowering his head in Mark's direction.

Harry lowered his head as well, trying desperately to control his emotions as instructed, but the memory of Lupin giving him some Honeyduke's chocolate on the train in third year filled his mind, and tears filled his eyes.

"Questions will be answered shortly, but I would ask Harry, Mark, and Professor McGonagall to accompany me back to my office," Dumbledore said.

Professor Mac put a strong hand on Harry's shoulder and then strode down the hall. The foursome walked back up the spiral staircase, and Dumbledore produced two armchairs, as always, and he took a seat behind his desk. Mark looked around in awe, never having been in the magnificent room. Harry looked around, as well, and noticed all the portraits were wide awake and a number of headmistresses were crying.

"I have some rough news for both of you," Dumbledore said gravely, and Professor McGonagall sniffed loudly behind them.

Harry was quite confused by then. Why was Mark here if something had happened to Lupin? Mark had never even met Lupin. Harry quickly looked at his young cousin and then it dawned on him. In his thoughts of Remus, he had never even considered his Uncle Desmond.

"There is no easy way to say this, and it is hard for everyone, even those who have been through this before," Dumbledore said resting his knowing eyes on Harry.

Mark looked from Dumbledore to Harry and then back to Dumbledore in nothing short of terror.

"I'm very sorry, boys, but Desmond Evans died earlier this evening," Dumbledore stated.

"NO!" Mark cried jumping to his feet, the armchair toppling over and almost hitting McGonagall's knees.

"I'm so sorry, Mark, but it is true," Dumbledore said.

The headmaster stood up and went to give Mark a hug, but Mark wrenched away before he could.

"He just sent me a letter yesterday that Harry could stay for the holidays! This can't be true!" Mark wailed, and he began to sob.

Mark's voice sounded so empty, and Harry hated to hear it because he related to it all too well. McGonagall put an arm around Mark's shoulders, and he gave up. She led the crying boy out of the office. Harry stood up to follow them, but Dumbledore stopped him.

"Wait. We have much to discuss," Dumbledore said, sitting wearily back into his chair.

Harry sat automatically, desperately wanting to go to his room and sleep forever. He felt guilty because he was glad it wasn't Lupin, but then he was distraught at never knowing his mother's only brother.

"Was it Lucius?" Harry said bluntly.

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Yes. We believe Lucius, Macnair, and Bellatrix were there," Dumbledore said.

"I thought Lupin had died," Harry said.

"Why?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry went into the story of Draco and the letter, and when he was finished, Dumbledore nodded.

"I can see where you would be concerned, and I applaud your common sense to send a coded letter rather than going on a hero mission," the headmaster replied.

Harry took that as an insult and a compliment, but he let it pass because he was hungry for information.

"Desmond knew this was coming," Dumbledore remarked quietly.

"How?" Harry asked very surprised.

"He knew it was only a matter of time before the Deatheaters found him again. He sent me a letter telling me what happened when he left fifteen years before. He went to fight the Deatheaters alone when he heard of your parent's deaths. He killed several of them in a surprise attack, but they eventually overpowered him, so he disapparated. Somewhere Lord Voldemort must have found out about him being alive and sent his followers to kill him," Dumbledore said.

"How did they find out," Harry asked trying to think if he gave anything away.

"Probably from someone telling him that Mark was at school. They are stealthy people and can find out anything if they want it bad enough. Desmond was an important target to them," Dumbledore explained.

"Why was he so important? Was it because he had killed those Deatheaters." Harry asked.

"That might be part of the reason, but the main reason is because he knew the incantation to the green flame torch. Your mother trusted it to him those many years before," Dumbledore stated.

Harry was still for a moment as he absorbed this information. When he spoke, it was in a rigid, angry voice.

"So what am I supposed to do here, sir?" Harry demanded. "I'm here at Hogwarts and the torch is locked up at the Ministry! Tell me what to do, and I'll do it, but right now it doesn't really look like I have many choices in this situation!"

Dumbledore stared calmly at Harry, his eyes full of seriousness.

"Maybe, Harry, hero missions are not all that rash," Dumbledore said raising his eyebrows.

Harry was speechless. Was Dumbledore actually telling Harry to plan a raid on the Department of Mysteries?

"That is all, Harry," Dumbledore directed. "You have a lot to think about. Your Uncle Desmond's funeral will be held on Monday. Mark will be staying with us at Grimmauld Place until further arrangements are made."

"Yes, sir," Harry said and exited the room, knowing he had never left that office feeling more confident on what he had to do.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione packed their things on Saturday afternoon and took a portkey to Grimmauld Place with McGonagall. Ron and Hermione were shocked at the news, and they never left his side. Harry appreciated them being so supportive. As they walked through the house of his dead godfather, they saw Mark sitting alone in the living room looking forlorn. Harry motioned to Ron and Hermione to leave, and he walked over to his young cousin.

"I'm so sorry, Mark," Harry said as he sat next to him.

"I'm going to find whoever did this and kill them one day," Mark said so softly Harry could barely hear him.

"I share your sentiment," Harry said bitterly. "But it will get better, I promise. These things just take time. Trust me. I know."

"Well, I don't want to know, and I don't want to be like you!" Mark yelled.

Harry was silent. He knew Mark was just lashing out, so he let it slide.

"I'm sorry," Mark said almost instantly and a look of utter despair crossed his face.

"It's okay, Mark. I understand. I destroyed Dumbledore's office when Sirius died," Harry said trying to make him feel better because Mark didn't need guilt on top of his grieving.

"This was Sirius' house, right?" Mark asked looking around.

Harry winced at the word "was," but he nodded.

They sat and discussed the Order for close to an hour. Dumbledore had no choice but to fill the boy in on some things, but Harry knew Mark was trustworthy. That is why he had let him in the D.A. No one bothered them while they talked.

Everyone knew Mark needed time with Harry because he was his last real relative besides his mom, which Harry had accidently heard from McGonagall "couldn't be found."

Finally, Mrs. Weasley came to get them for dinner. She gave Harry her traditional bone-breaking hug, and introduced herself to Mark.

"It's nice to meet you, dear, I'm Ron's mother," she said shaking his hand.

"I'm Mark," he said warming up a little bit.

Harry smiled because he knew that Mark desperately needed a motherly figure, and Mrs. Weasley would rise to the occasion. Harry felt like she was his mother sometimes. Dinner was quiet. No one was really in the mood to talk. Harry could tell that everyone was thinking that this war was turning from bad to worse. They all went to bed somber and thoughtful. Sunday passed uneventful. Mark spent a lot of time in the room he had to himself. Ron and Harry played a few games of wizard chess, and Hermione read a book. On Monday morning they all dressed in their dress robes and carried their jackets with them down to the front hall. Mrs. Black stayed silent for there was no noise to wake her. Even Tonks, who was there to walk with them to the cemetery, was unusually solemn and still. As Mark walked down the stairs in severely black dress robes, Tonks approached him.

"Hi, Mark. My name is Tonks, and I knew your father well. He was good friends with my mom, Andromeda, and he was a good man," she said her eyes, full of unshed tears.

Mark looked up at her and smiled weakly.

"Thank you," he said and was silent.

Mrs. Weasley called for them at the door and they all followed. Mr. Weasley had said that the wizard's cemetery was just three blocks from Grimmauld Place. Harry heard Hermione telling Ron as they walked that wizard cemeteries were all over the place just as Muggle ones were. Just like other wizarding buildings, the cemeteries had spells and enchantments on them to keep Muggles away. They arrived ten minutes later, and Harry was amazed at how many people were there. For a man who had been supposedly missing for fifteen years, a lot of people still remembered him. There were different groups of witches and wizards talking quietly and all wearing dress robes and somber faces. Harry saw Fudge, Percy, and many teachers from school. It was frigid outside at December's end, and many people were rubbing their hands together to keep warm as they chatted quietly. It seemed everyone stopped their conversation as Harry and Mark walked onto the gravesite. The rich brown casket was open, and Harry and Mark stopped in unison a few feet in front of it. Harry could tell Mark was struggling with the thought that this would be the last time he would lay eyes on his father. Harry was dealing with fact that the only time he would see his mother's brother would be in a coffin. Ron approached them and put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"You have to make your peace," Ron said in a moment of rare sincerity.

Mark took a deep breath and stepped foward first. Everyone watched this young boy mourn his father, and while they didn't want to watch, there was nowhere else to look and no more words to say. Mark didn't cry, but put his hands on the side of the casket and looked down at his dead father. He stood there for close to three minutes and then walked away no longer a boy but a man. Harry took a few steps up to see the first and last glimpse of his uncle, and as he walked, he felt eyes burning into the back of his head. His first thought when he saw him was that he looked nothing like his mother. Harry would have never known they were related. His uncle had wavy jet black hair, a strong chin, and a hawk nose. He was very handsome and looked like he was asleep on the soft white lining of the casket. Harry smiled sadly as he thought that this man was his mother's best friend. Harry stepped back and walked back to his friends. He saw Mark standing off to the side alone with a stone face, and Harry let him be. Harry saw Dumbledore approach a podium that was in front of a plethora of different flower arrangements, and the quiet chatter stopped immediately.

"Desmond Evans was a man of great respect. He was a powerful wizard, trusted friend, and a wonderful father to his son, Mark. He was a casualty in this war and a great loss to the wizarding community. Help me honor this man that we thought was lost to us but has been in our hearts all along," Dumbledore said looking and sounding so majestic that his words took everyone's breath away.

Hermione was crying into Ron's shoulder, and Mrs. Weasley stood tall next to her husband with tears running down her cheeks. Most of the men stood on the brink of tears, and Harry felt he had never felt so sorrowful at one point in his entire life. Five older wizards stood in a row in back of the casket and held their wands diagonal toward the sky. Brilliant ocean blue sparks flew into the air and rained down softly on the crowd. There was a moment of silence and then everyone gradually dispersed.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked him wiping tears off her face but still holding onto Ron's arm.

Harry suddenly missed Mandy terribly and needed to get away.

"I'm fine," he answered. "I'm going to walk around a bit."

His friends nodded, and he heard Mr. Weasley tell him not to go far. Harry waved a hand in acknowledgment and walked out into the cemetery. He had gone three rows of graves when he saw something that broke his heart. Two fine granite tombstones stood inches from each other with his parent's names engraved on them. Harry sank down on the grass in shock. It had not even occurred to him that his parent's graves would be here, but it made perfect sense. Two stone hearts connected the graves, and they read:

_**James Potter**_

_**Beloved Husband and Father**_

_**1961-1982**_

_**Lily Evans Potter**_

_**Beloved Wife and Mother**_

_**1961-1982**_

Harry couldn't hold back the tears any longer that had been threatening all day. He sat and cried for his parents, Sirius, Kingsley, Desmond, and all the others that had been killed at Voldemort's hands. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up quickly. Lupin's face looked back down at him. He sat down beside Harry, never saying a word, and let Harry cry for all that were lost.


End file.
